………..It is an innocuous world―
the fruit that hangs above us,
………..sweet, ripe, dangling low,
waiting for our hands to slice
………..the sunlight reaching up
through leaves like green
………..udders dripping translucent milk,
is the most perilous thing I know.
………..Aside from that, in a certain light
this whole world becomes
………..simpler than a pang of hunger.
In a certain light all is palpable,
………..the mystery fades, the lover in us
dies, and in dying, can escape.
………..It is only then that I, waiting
at the threshold of your certain light,
………..am ever truly afraid.
•••
The poem originally published in this spot was “Wet Season Memories”, which was withdrawn by request of the author because after it had been submitted to tongues, an updated version was published in BIM: Arts for the 21st Century. The comment by Nancy Anne Miller is in response to that poem.
After the withdrawal of “Wet Season Memories”, Summer Edward submitted “In A Certain Light” for consideration as its replacement, and the guest editors, Marion Bethel and Helen Klonaris, accepted it in its place.
•••
Born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, Summer Edward is a Master’s student at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work has appeared in BIM, Philadelphia Stories, St. Somewhere and tongues of the ocean. She blogs at http://www.summeredward.blogspot.com and is the Managing Editor of Anansesem, the Caribbean children’s literature ezine.
tongues of the ocean 
Nancy Anne Miller
Summer,
This poem has everything remembering (re-making) should have.Images which blur,blend together: “branches palm greenly”,”the mosquito room”, and “mango filled windows” in the slippery act of conjuring up a place. The poem balances beautifully between vividness, the sense of loss, and as we speak, the fleeting or is it the fleeing?
It is always a pleasure to read your work!
Nancy Anne Miller