Let the Light Shed Dark and the Dark Be Still
Ira Sukrungruang
Because some days, I am a snake, leaving
my skin in the wake of my slither. Because transformation
starts in the webbing of the mind, which can tangle
and trap an eager fly. Because the ceiling fan hit my wife’s lip
when she forgot to turn it off to change a bulb,
and all I could do was laugh.
Because the sun is a mysterious star, and Earth
is a lighted dot in another planet’s sky. Because a mirror
in a mirror is a mirror. Because there are no mirrors
in forests, but there are forests in mirrors. Because in the light
I wish to sleep endless hours, and in the dark, I am awake
waiting for the sun. Because the sun does melt
on the horizon and the world is flat. Because we want to fix
every crack instead of stepping on them. Because sadness
is the grind of my wife’s teeth in sleep.
Because a peacock and loon scream. Because halos
are not only for angels. Because the end
of a song is the heart, that musical muscle, stopping.
Ira Sukrungruang is the author of Southside Buddhist, Talk Thai: The Adventures of Buddhist Boy, and the poetry collection In Thailand It Is Night. He teaches in the MFA program at University of South Florida and the low-residency MFA at City University Hong Kong.