Black and white
surely opposites?
Yin and Yang
perfectly nested
complete a circle
no mixing, no grey areas
White light is a mixture
of all the colours
whilst dark is the
absence of light
light’s shadow friend
inseparable
For as long as stars
burn bright with light
and there are objects
arrayed to block the light
then there must necessarily
be shadow until
all the stars go out
When we paint we
use chiaroscuro to
bring our canvasses to life
light and dark to throw
our subjects into relief
to shade them – then we see
that shadows are not
universally dark but
illuminated by reflection
of the light from other objects
whose colour has sucked dry
those hues that are not it’s to own
Yellow swallows everything
that we do not deem yellow
and reflected into neighbouring
shadow – a hint of gold
will now suffuse the shade
making it less than black
Nowhere is free from
scattered light and so
no white nor black
are wholly pure
Yin and Yang
a pure conceit
Shadows are shades
of other colours who
are merely filters that
absorb some wavelengths
reflect back the rest
to our miraculous eye
Watercolourists work
with transparent hues
whilst oil painters apply
solid, light-absorbing paint
and TVs shine out light
and print must duller be
We swim in a milieu
of light and filters
making shades of hues
and dappling shadows
with subtle colour – we are all
in reality, impressionists…
© Andrew Wilson, 2025
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, Grace is hosting Open Link Night when you can post a poem of your own choosing. This one was written for the monthly poetry group at my local library, a small and distinctly analogue group whose subject this month was Opposites…
I love your poem, Andrew! You are right about the need for dark to contrast the light. It is essential in painting to balance the two. I am not sure what it means for society!
Good question Dwight! I guess there is too much polarised thinking everywhere and people need to see shades of grey (and other colours)…
Love the light/dark references to painting. I think some light has a little dark in it and dark has a little light. Our eyes adjust to darkness and then we can see in the dark.
I have been getting back into painting by choosing to make postcard sized paintings for the Poetry Postcard Festival – 31 plus paintings in 6 weeks (as well as 31 poems) so painting technique has been on my mind Colleen…
I really like how the word dapple in the last stanza carries so much weight. Sometimes, the simplest words expand the view of what’s happening in a poem. Thank you very much.
You’re right, Aaron, I noticed that myself after writing it, as poets these things are so important but we couldn’t say exactly where they have come from in the moment of creation…
I found this part intriguing.
For as long as stars
burn bright with light
and there are objects
arrayed to block the light
then there must necessarily
be shadow until
all the stars go out
Thanks Truedessa – yes, after the big bang there was no light until gravity coalesced sufficient mass for stars to spontaneously ignite and at the endo of it all, entropy says that all will return to dust with the last stars dying or exploding and everything will be dark again – a long way off yet…
Indeed… the illusion if there ever was black and white… there is always a variation.
Thanks Bjorn…
Love your conclusion!
Thanks Rosemary – a little mixing of art and science…
That last stanza is lovely. I wish I can paint for a deeper appreciation of hues and colors. Maybe when I retire, smiles.
Why wait Grace! Btw, I don’t think I know what you do…
I found this wonderfully absorbing, Andrew. If only science was taught more poetically in school, I would have done better in it.
I quite agree Punam, we had a terrible Chemistry teacher! You might like this then https://open.spotify.com/track/1gUnpnvaQF9k8HTfIb5BEj?si=fbf6b906868a4ef2