For Fear of a Black Day

For fear of a black day,
she keeps her home windows busy
with crystal sun-catchers
and colored glass bottles
in rows on the sill.
    
For fear of a black day,
she dresses like the morning,
all oranges and yellows,
she wears pieces of jewelry
that glitter and spark.
                   
For fear of a black day,
she surrounds herself
with bright shiny people
who speak words of brilliance
in well-lit places.
                   
And when all else fails
and the black day arrives,
she closes her eyes and imagines the fires
that must burn in the hearts of stars
and the cores of planets,
                   
a forever light
that never dims
or loses control,
or fears the cold black absence
waiting for us all.

~end~

Originally published in The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, 2001