Oil on canvas
Open Hand
by Alex Dampney
Your open hand releases darkness from its fist.
The silent blackness chills the walls and floor.
Nothing’s safe from your pervasive reach
and blindness reigns supreme behind closed doors.
I grope around and try to feel my way
through weaving labyrinth coated black with coal
and treacherous cliffs and pits if I should stray
the unmarked route where you enforce control.
I pluck a string. A note rings through the air.
Vibrations quake the inky soup, disturb
the stagnant bog of fear. I sing. My prayer
ripples across the void; my song is heard
and clouds are chased away. A globe of light
begins its time, develops in the gloom.
A silver sphere, the moon, now shines so bright
black veils retreat to corners of the room.
My open arms embrace the rising dawn
as light illuminates my path. I see
the door I must pass through to be reborn,
to leave the labyrinth and start a life that’s free.
The moon is followed by the sun; the night
extinguished by the day. With eyes awake,
I marvel at this new found gift of sight
and greet gold rays of hope as morning breaks.