Chiaroscuro
(for Terry)
It’s clear how quickly
darkness swims up the gums –
there’s light and shadow, then
the silver trunks and tossed heads
are gone. Bats call
in darkness. I’ve seen this
in Auckland too – a city with
space for trees – walking by
an angled building, I looked
into black branches scribbled
on blackness, nearly invisible.
Like you, I notice when
one’s gone, check the time
when darkness comes –
a gap in the line of gums
and the slow turn of light.
Mary Macpherson