Skylight by Marc Alan Di Martino

Skylight

Everything you do, I did
at your age: the tousled
bangs draped over your
eyes shielding you from
scrutiny, the oversize
sweatshirts, the baggy
jeans, the unassailable
scowl, the quiet allure
of darkness & the stark
conviction that life
is royally unfair
to all—but mainly you.
I get it. I do. We too
had indecipherable
slang and snickered
at others’ inability to read
our thoughts, emitted
through cryptic tics
of the nervous system,
black holes of significance
behind the iron event
horizon of each mono-
syllabic moan, each groan
of disapproval. I’m here
to tell you all of this
is normal, fine, okay,
copacetic, kosher, chill.
It will run its course
like a cold, so common
is it to the species. Life
is precious (yes, I know
you’ll laugh at this
so be my guest), an old
saying that never loses
its sting. Nothing
matters to me more
than you and I really
think you need to hear
this now, as it’s been
hit-or-miss lately
between us. Maybe if
I can manage to crack
your skylight open
a bit I’ll let some sun
in. Just don’t forget
to look up
or you’ll miss it.

*

Marc Alan Di Martino is the author of Love Poem with Pomegranate (Ghost City Press, 2023), Still Life with City (Pski’s Porch, 2022) and Unburial (Kelsay, 2019). His poems and translations appear in Autumn Sky, Orange Blossom Review, Rattle and many other journals and anthologies. His work has been nominated for both the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. His translation Day Lasts Forever: Selected Poems of Mario dell’Arco will be published by World Poetry Books in 2024. Currently a reader for Baltimore Review, he lives in Italy.