Luminescence

I am luminescence

An opalescent spirit who was taught that colour

Radiance, brilliance,

And all that is vibrant and magnificent

Is nothing but an irritant.

I am luminescence

The vermillion, violet and fuchsia that paint the sky as the light dims

That remind a person that as times get darker and colder

There is a beauty that arises

Which cannot be seen in the day.

I am luminescence

But also resilience

There is a titanium graphene core that stabilises

Magnifies, drives and defines me

This centre does not solidify or rigidify my being

It is merely the skeleton built from the carcasses of the people I have been

Enshrouded by who I’ve become.

I am luminescence

The essence of all that is human

The incandescent light of truth, clarity, honesty and humanity

Which allow me to see past the cruelty

Insincerity, hypocrisy and devilry

That can corrupt even the most incorruptible souls

I exist in the slate, the ivory and the ebony

For life is not simply a case of what is and what is not

Sometimes it is a mixture of all that can be.

I am luminescence

I am the palest azure to the sharpest cerulean

The indigos, sapphires, cobalts and lapis

And like lapis, the flecks of gold shine from my depths

I speak verdantly of jades, emeralds

And forests of seraphinite:

My mica shimmers beautifully in the moonlight.

I am luminescence

And I have always been luminescence

This is not a choice, though a decision has been made daily.

One may not choose to be born luminescent

But they can choose whether to allow their shine to be covered

Their glitter painted over by tar and bitumen

They can choose to erect a fortress around their brilliance and

Never reveal this to the world.

Yet to me, there was never an option.

In denying myself luminescence, I deny myself air

I deny myself nourishment, education, joy and wealth

For in my luminescence, lies my essence

And in that essence, lives freedom.