House Of Dimmed Lights Poem by Denis Mair

At twilight the paper blinds come down
The windows turn to panels of milky blue.
They stand out with light from behind,
The room gathers light they let through,
And answers with gleam of white walls.
Deep blue from the ceiling seeps into the air;
The floor's brown oak is lost to dusk,
But the blond-maple stand is still with us.
The red of the fruit bowl is lost.
Surfaces define no limits to the room,
But show only their faint luminosity.
Blinds translate the dusk to the inside air,
Hush deepens in the room emptied of day.
Turn on the chalice-shaped lamp,
For a ten-watt glow behind frosted glass.
At the doorway your finger nudges a switch
Expecting a sudden blare of light,
But a dimmer has been installed;
The chandelier stays at candle strength,
Because this is what preserves the hush.
Glass and enamel in the cupboard
Glinting from the street light outside,
Enough to find your cup and teabags.

This is a house of dimmed lights,
Round any doorway reach your hand
Decide how much to bring in view.
A night-light burning in the hallway
Guides you to ease yourself at midnight;
A Victorian lamp shows the living room
Fallen quiet after the day's brouhaha
And maybe a relative sacked out on foam.
Pictures look down from every wall
Family images across from each other,
This space bears their weight of presence
Muted to shadow in these quiet times.
This house chooses soft illumination
So walls won't crack with cloistered energy;
A subtle antenna has been strung
Between effigies of mouth and spoon
Linking this house to the night-aether network
Guiding its navigations in the ocean of night.
This living room is awake to vigils
With a glimmer always ready to answer
Your inner light wrapped in darkness
When the curtain of eyelids is raised,
And one room is bathed in flickering phosphors…
A developing bath for unspooling tragicomedy;
Images pour from a medium that may be cool or warm:
A couple rests from one hundred people at the office
But don't neglect their nightly homework in the zeitgeist.
The dimness of these rooms saves electricity,
Little rheostats adjust to fit your mood
Giving as much light as you need to see.