Photophobia in Four Acts by Samir Knego

Mid-morning and I’m still

Trying to chew through the sun

And sound of today

If the sun isn’t a fireball

Maybe it is a fire poker

Stabbing my poor eyes out from

93,000,000 miles away

II.

Lunchtime just means

The sun has repositioned its javelin

A bit

But I eat my lunch

And it eats

And I don’t like the idea of being

Swallowed up

By a big ball of fire

III

Still shards of sunlight

Seep in

Midafternoon as I drink

My tea

More slowly than I do in the winter

The flowers in the vase are dry

By design

Or neglect

Still brilliant in their frozen forms

Unfed, unwatered,

Unnoticed by the sun

You’d think it would be a violence

To live each day under

Burning rays

But God knows what I give

Them is not shelter, nor peace

Swallowed up in the darkness of

This place

IV.

And we arrive

In the time between

Afternoon and evening

The sun is growing angry, erratic

Flailing in its desperation

To hurt

Some windows scream bright

Other angles bring blessed peace,

Darkness

Approaches

But I’m still wearing sunglasses

Indoors

Samir Knego (he/him) works in a library and loves heavy metal. He has published poems, paintings, photographs, and even some things that don’t start with “p” and was LEVEL’s Spring 2021 Local Artist-In-Residence. He lives in North Carolina with a bright green wheelchair and a little black dog. Twitter: @SamirKnego

You could have a big dipper

Photophobia in Four Acts by Samir Knego

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