Chimera

The light in this place is a chimera
In the morning it sings sweetly
rising with clarity of divine purpose behind the blind
smiling as it climbs unyielding up the bedspread
And slyly slides over the side of the bed
Where you used to sleep

In the afternoon it lays about in puddles
Tripping me like the upturned corner of a rug
That nobody has bothered to fix
Indeed it seems to glare
Indolent, insolent
As if daring me to snuff it out with the curtain

At night, when all should be quiet
And cool and dark
Still the light lingers like a drunken dinner guest
Hours after dessert has been served
It clings to the walls and refuses to leave
Obstinately holding on far after the point
when it should have left

This light, this midnight glow
Is the one I hate the most
More than the despotic morning shards
More than the feckless afternoon pools
This, this unwanted intrusion, this burden
Shreds my nerves and lays over me
like a suffocating blanket
But it is also the one I treasure most
Because it makes me feel how you must have felt
Before you left this place

And so I leave the blinds slit
The curtains undrawn
The moon uncovered

Because though you took your love for me with you
You left your disdain behind