A Child Banishes the Darkness

A Child Banishes the Darkness
by Jill Bialosky (from Subterranean)

The child presides over our lives like the
Blinding presence of tall white pines. In the
Low room she hovers; she is the dark
untamed place, like a thicket in a
neglected wood where I fall to after each new
loss, the unforgotten dream buried like
a small toy under layers of frozen
un-raked leaves. She is the hidden secret
we don't talk about because there is
nothing left to say. So much snow on the roofs
of tall buildings, along the cobbled streets,
in the eaves, and on the narrow bridge and
in the quiet palm of the newborn
Nothing left to fear. All the earth is calm.