Lux Aeterna by Donald Sellitti

A death knell rung in light, 
not sound; pealing from the
surface of a rust-stained concrete
smokestack in a sky that seemed 
had never been without them. Flashing
red on foggy nights and moonlit ones;
on days that always felt like Sunday.
But for the most interior of rooms
there was no refuge from their painful
tempo, slower than the slowest 
heart could beat without just stopping;
a rhythm meant for times of mourning,
not the intervals between that are
the stuff of elegies to come.
But the lights kept at it anyway,
sliding on and off in unison, 
noiseless, unrelenting,
maintaining order in the twilit sky;
warning planes away from danger 
for the small price of my sanity.

About the Poet:

Donald Sellitti is retired after a thirty-eight year career in research and teaching at a medical school. He has published extensively in medical journals, and has recently had poems published in Autumn Sky, Better than Starbucks, and Rat’s Ass Review, who nominated his work for a Pushcart Prize.