the black

the black
by Randall Nicholas

the black
                    perches
           on a naked branch
                                  then on your eyelid
                                                           tenderly
                                                                         not terribly
                   twinkling first
                                       with the chatoyancy of twilight
                                                                                 then deepening
                                                                                            to lusterless
             obsidian
                           neither hard nor opaque
                                                       rather
                                                                 fathomless
                                                                              yet not abysmal
                  clairvoyant
                          as a spring
                                            secreting from the deep
                                                                      you shall in turn
            learn to see through
                                     till all around you
                                                          radiates
                                                                        tenebrous opalescence
         giving you owl’s eyes
                                      to observe
                                                  inquire
                                                             acquire
                                                                      the unnoticeable
            yet all important
                                     not to devour
                                                  but assimilate
                                                                     and incorporate
                                                                                            as though you
            were mysterious
                                the midnight meridian
                                                              by which you calculate
            your whereinabouts
                                      tangent to
                                                  your surroundings
                                                                         everything once hidden
            evident
                         connected
                                     peaceful
                                                    immanently and eminently
             gratifying
                                                                                                essential