Thoughts on
“Bright light hurts.”

Text of “Bright light hurts.”

      He Remains, I think,
      Glancing over
      to prove the claim

      "Unfounded fear,"
      He assured me.
      Never left,
      But laid there,
      Still.

      Sleep--a solemn ritual
      Of surrender steals
      Moments from the day.

      He does not hear,
      "Bright light hurts
      These eyes closed
      Long from sleep."

      Morning, and...
      He is gone.

Thoughts:

Q: What's worse than a bad poet?
A: An author reads his own writing in public.  And worse still.... the poet who tries to extract meaning from his own work.

Yet..... I have taken a pass to delve a litter deeper into one of the pieces on the site.

I've tried to have the piece keep intact in 4 contexts.  It's a bitter pun pulling on the feelings of the death of a friend, abandonment by a significant other, and existential angst.  There is a superficial layer as a one night stand, because one can deal better with the abandonment of a stranger.  In this context we may have the strength to examine deeper feelings of abandonment

He Remains , I think,
Glancing over
to prove the claim

He remains--  Hanging around versus the opposite: dying.
He is still there.  He is dead.  Think "his remains" but with the pronoun turning the remains from a noun to a verb.

I think--  I think therefore I am.  Descartes proof of existence--"cogito ergo sum."  So..."He remains, I think" is meant to allude to the a proof of my own existence and puzzles on the existence of one who has left me behind.

Glancing over--  The remains of my friend are close.  I do not have to look far.  Yet, neither can I look full on.  Likewise I cannot look full on to my own existence. Glancing over proves his existence. Thinking proves mine.

to prove the claim--  Closing the allusion to Decartes proof.  The claim is that "he is still there" or that I think and therefore exist.  Not sure if the allusion is complete as a lone piece.  There is other reference to Descartes on the site.

"Unfounded fear,"
He assured me.
Never left,
But laid there,
Still.

I've been told "Always" more than once by those who have since either left or died.  Here is the latter case of the one who promised "always", never left, but "remains".  His remains have been laid to rest and don't move.

Sleep--a solemn ritual
Of surrender steals
Moments from the day.

Perhaps the last sleep.  Dead steals time from life.  Sleep steals time from waking. Here is a reference to the similarity between sleep and dead.  Today I die and tomorrow perhaps another awakes. Perhaps.

He does not hear,
"Bright light hurts
These eyes closed
Long from sleep."

The dead do not hear.  Does God? Sleep here is just that: sleep.  But it is also a failure to be conscious and aware.  If I open my eyes and the light of day or light of consciousness is painful..... perhaps this is the proof of my own existence.

Morning, and...
He is gone.

Mourning.  I awaken from the fog and the one I hoped to find is no longer there. Yet.  This is a beginning.  He is gone is actually meant as an improvement over "He Remains."  "Gone" offers closure and the chance to move on.  "Remains" is more as a haunting or ghost.

bright thoughts