Midnight Oil

she says this is not brilliance i know that this is my self-worth built on a tower of late nights and crumbling resolve but she knows as i do that this facade is the standard she asks if i see the problem in comparing sparks in the sky with midnight oil leaving bright spots in my eyes and dark circles as their outlines i tell her this is midnight season eyes crack open, dry mouths close and try to swallow hope nose back to grind long hours around false hearths searching to find something to show for all of this pain so many hours with so little gain it is midnight season no rest because i’m not wicked sharp and no rest because we revere the drought; to give every breath until i’m done and out no, this is not brilliance — it is midnight season. if there were embers, they’re ashes by now.

| Kanwal Ahmad