We've got to ease our way into the light

‘We’ve got to ease our way into the light’, she said

A throwaway comment while I was making the bed

And the sun sneaking in through cracks around the curtains

Gets washed away in tides of incandescent bright

I smear the sleep from closed eyelids

And remember how hot revelation burns like tears

How truth is a blanket that must be pulled off slowly

How cold and prickly it can be in the naked discomfort of intruding dawn

Time is a grace

The vast distance from imperfection to a better man

Is a journey of small steps

perhaps to be savoured one sip at a time

Are warm and smell like lemon in my hand-cupped mug

Are perhaps all there is before the lights go out

And I sleep

Some final night