“I am not the poet of goodness only, I do not decline to be the poet of wickedness also.”
—–Walt Whitman
Today’s picture prompt made me think of the Shadow.
The jagged, irregular boundary of it in the picture reminds me of how I live inside my head.
Now, I know what Jung says about the Shadow, and how important and valid it is. But right now, I’m just thinking in child’s fairytale terms of light/dark, life/death. Indulge me.
Part of me would like to believe that I am 99% a child of Light (whatever I define that to be) but that is not even close to true.
Suicide prevention is a cause dear to my heart, and the creative pursuit of one more day is part of what my other site is about. I believe I write as a force on the side of life–but when it comes to poetry, it may not seem so clear in my words.
The poet I am is not a nice person.
Even when I write about nice subjects, dark stuff can creep in. When I write about something that’s already not so nice–look out. I’m usually not happy until the result gives me a creepy feeling on the back of my neck and a vague disturbance in the region of my belly button.
So, when I let the darkness run rampant on my page, am I still fighting on the side I believe in? The side I need to pour energy into if I want to stick around here?
Yes.
If “Beauty is truth, truth beauty”—then yes.
Lori Lynne Armstrong 
Writing is no doubt cathartic. Besides, we are not just 100% light, nor are we 100% nice. With light comes shadows. You cannot choose to be nice without the option to choose evil. Sometimes the bitch in us simply needs to express herself. That’s okay, too.