The Burden of Darkness

by Ronda Suder

There’s a darkness, though it’s not a vision. It’s a feeling.

A feeling of darkness.

How old is she? How old does she feel?
For the darkness has an age… from there, it has a name.

That moment in time when she was not capable.
That moment in time when they did what they should not.

The name of the darkness was forced upon her.
She did not ask for it. She did not choose it.

The darkness was forced upon her; heavy and lingering.

And yet, it is she that must work to find the light;
A burden debilitating at worse and exhausting at best.

Still, the truth remains…

To survive and then live, the darkness must be brought to light.
And through that transformation of truth, the lightness has the opportunity to remain.

The burden of darkness has no place.