I wake at the edge
of the garden
in a cloud colored nightgown.
This was not my idea
but since there is no one here
I gather the dark to my face.
Since there is no one
I toss the pall from
one moment to the next.

Soon I’ll turn my face away.
The moon has a blank stare
but it blinks relentlessly, tearing
the night I carry inside me.
When I lived in the light,
I had all the shadow I needed.

—
Janet and Cheryl Snell are sisters who collaborate on art and word projects. One of their collections, Prisoner’s Dilemma, won the Lopside Press Chapbook Competition. Both Snells regularly publish in the small magazines, and recently had work in PANK, Mixitini Matrix, and Deep Water literary Journal. They keep a blog of art and poetry called Scattered Light.