Winter mornings in Ullapool

For Chris Emery.

Photograph taken by Giuseppe Bartoli.

It felt
as if the darkness
of the universe
were like the cotton percale sheets
of a hotel bed,
tucked tightly
under the mattress
of the blinding sun

that is
until the Scottish maid
of seasonal turndowns
finally makes visible
that silky bit of tenebrosity
all humans carry inside
during hours
we’re not accustomed to.