When she saw the light,

something in her cells

got charged. Turned on.

Illuminated. And she

knows now that fragility

and brilliance hold hands

in dark places,  a

collision course with

gloom that can eclipse

even her pain, obscure even

the Shadowlands. Her

smile says it all; I am

alive, I am conqueror,

I am free. Somewhere

in the darkness, a match

strikes against a flint

as black as pitch –

ignition.