The Force

Four o’clock in the morning

pacing about the room

trying to coax our baby back to sleep

I look over to the window —

a square of pure primeval darkness

between the half-drawn curtains

millions of years old

millions of miles deep.

A pocket of the universe

a tunnel into space

black, cold, and silent

but alive.

The force flows through the window

thick and viscous

but at the same time subtle and vapor thin

enveloping and entering me

like smoke, foaming through my body

slow and heavy, merging and becoming me.

Inside me there’s only darkness —

awesome and immense, almost frightening,

but glowing with warm benevolence.