Poem: Nyx and Neon
January 21, 2024
The darkness and its dreams
have been tossed out like bottle caps,
or plastic wrappers, illuminated
into nothingness. Old goddesses
swapped for this new electricity,
these garish sharp scars flashing.
Neon is the worst, an intoxicating
brightness. He was recently elevated
to a minor god. I curse his vulgar
yellow slaps upon the face
of the sleeping earth, his bold
assertion of light when all
should give themselves to rest.
Newness needs to be won,
rebirthed at dawn, not lost
in this glut of fluorescence,
snarling through the black.
But I am Nyx, and I know —
Neon can never reach
the human’s rest of death.
There nothing disturbs the mud,
except the damp, and the quiet,
thorough recycling of the worms,
palest pink yet avid.
PS Cottier
Nyx personifies night, and was the goddess of the night. Neon was discovered in 1898, and is a ‘noble gas’, although Nyx doesn’t see it that way in my poem.
PS Cottier 
Love it. Light Pollution is so overwhelming for humans and nature alike. You may remember me, you published my poem All the Seasons in Your Face, *about my aging Duke. He is still with me and getting frailer but still resilient – it is the Jack Russel in him. He loves his food, sleep and sniffing the path. He can still run a bit. I love him so much. *Ms Maria Koukouvas (Vouis) BA Psych / Eng; BEd Secondary; Grad Dip Creative Writing; Cert IV Music MOBILE: 0407 354 784 Latest Publications: Two Tongue World, ICOE Press; Arachne’s Thread – The Victorian Writer; *Chicken Bones – *Cordite Poetry Review, All The Seasons in Your Face – Canberra Times
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Thank you, Maria. I remember your poem well. I have very limited internet where I am, so I hope this reply appears.
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I like this a lot PS, vivid images and clever line endings. We are visiting Norfolk Island soon. I will think of your Nyx and Neon when I look up to the night sky.
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Have a wonderful time, Deborah. I hope you see the Green Parrot (not the most original name!) which is an endemic bird.
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