“I love you, but I can’t see you right now,”
she turned away from him, “it’s too dark.”
Owls are nocturnal and hunt in the dark.
Like panthers that prefer their blackness.
The sun’s corona lent its name,
and blackness spread pandemically,
Turning her away. Absenting her from him.
Like black is the absence of light.
Nocturnal love is like predation.
Owls and panthers are nocturnal predators.
“I love you,” he called after her.
“I can’t see you right now,” she answered.
The sun goes down and leaves the sky.
Like the night, the dark is the sun absented.
“It’s too dark to see,” she said.
“I love you,” he answered in the dark.
An owl flew from its perch on a bough.
A panther prowled the darkness below.
“I can’t see you now.”
“I know.”