The darkling sky. Photo taken by author on an after dinner walk.

Darkling

Mick Gibson
2 min readAug 11, 2024

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In days long before
when time didn’t exist on a clock
we looked up to sky at night
to see what we could
in the stars above.

Their light
let us know the comings and goings of seasons.

Their light
showed us the way to where we needed to go

Their light
comforted us in knowing that our lives here was reflected in them.

A little free flow of words inspired by a recent night sky tour, whilst away on holiday. Where I was introduced to the word ‘darkling’ and reminded of how living in a city, awash with too much man made light, has left me so very disconnected from the night sky.

On the following night as walked in that special time we call dusk, when the sun has settled, and the star light starts to glow that much brighter, we spoke about how little time we spend in the dark.

How we often feel uncomfortable with not knowing what is ahead. And how we reach for our flashlights way too soon, before letting our eyes adjust to the darkness.

Not everything needs to be known, clear, seen, all the time.
Without the dark there is no light.

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Mick Gibson

3 countries, 3 children, 2 dogs and 1 life-partner. I speak and write to make sense of what’s inside.