Elizabeth
Switaj

                                                          that year, we only had to capture noble

            gases in glass tubes to give ourselves cold-cathode light

            to meditate by, to name

            the good—to focus on the good

                                       we still arrange such segments on white walls

            —gallery walls less prone

            to outages than homes

            —don’t you still fear to leave?

                                                    helium’s gone and with it one whole color

            those accidental infants will never learn to see