We were in the dark.
A thinner dark than the damnable black behind folds of flaking red velvet made raw by the oily fingers of maroon dressed second graders who disobeyed their mothers, took the Lord's name in vain, and coveted their neighbor's pencil case.
We were in the dark.
A softer dark.
A streetlight dark.
A shadowed dark.
Not the squared dark that seeped sinister through the even lines ofthe metal grate revealed bythe yellowed fingertip who seductively, slowly slid the wooden panel along its wearing gate.
We were in the dark.
A sweeter dark than the bourbon stenched air moved by the heaving breath of the overweight cassock whose two shot slur slurred his Abruzzi accent not enough to hide his true identity.
We were in the dark.
A forgiving dark.
Not the one Our Father, three Hail Mary dark.
Not the I confess to almighty God dark.
Not the for these and all my sins which I can not now remembe rdark.
And you said to me, "I am a wall. You are talking to a wall."
A brick wall. A stone wall. A mortared wall. A tower wall. A city wall. A garden wall. An unbreachable wall.
And I confessed the seven deadly sins, the mortal sins, the venia sins, the sins of myself, and the sins of others, the sins of my childhood, the sins of my now.
We were in the dark.
An honest dark.
A matter of fact filled dark.
And I didn't have to repent any unclean thoughts or words or action because a wall can bear truth and does not need to absolve it.