in vino veritas, our heroine By Amy Shelver

I can give you light, if that’s all you ask for.
I can show you something that requires only trust.
Leaps of faith like this are often too much –
even for the enlightened.

Sometimes the darting fly-fish lure dancing
on the surface of your heart
is mistaken for darkness’s craving.

Oh, that ever tempting darkness
that cascades down like the melting warmth
of a collapsing body
into the folds a duveted bed.
Then stunned limbs, betrayed,
are ensnared, captivated –
possessed.

I have slept with darkness too…
I have fallen privy to its intoxications,
the madness of its quantity.

Addictive, mad, spindizzy.
I see its ineffable desire, its full vice and folly.

Now I skirt the periphery –
dipping into darkness’s shallows
aware that one more time,
too many…
and borders dissolve,
whirl-pooling to the core.

What is it about the darkness
that the light does not seem to own?

I can show you light, if that’s all you ask for.
Light and dark are mirrors – displaying each to each.

But, light, light remains different
it vibrates, resonates… liberates.
And it is most recognisable
to those who have known its reverse.

'Abyss' artwork by Bianca Boshoff
Artwork: Abyss (2017-2019) | Bianca Boshoff | Mixed Medium | Artist's collection, Paarl, Western Cape | Not for sale
'Dark to Light: Nothing can exist if it’s direct opposite does not also exist' artwork by Simon Le Gras
'Dark to Light: Nothing can exist if it’s direct opposite does not also exist' artwork by Simon Le Gras
Artwork: Dark to Light: Nothing can exist if it’s direct opposite does not also exist (2019) | Simon Le Gras | Digital painting and video | Artist's collection, Port Elizabeth now Gqeberha | Not for sale
'Dark to Light: Nothing can exist if it’s direct opposite does not also exist' artwork by Simon Le Gras
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