"just a moment of realization" by Adam Deal

I have now read this poem several times, and I can honestly say that I really like it, but I still (even after much searching and honing on my mad literary skills) find the text a little bit elusive. I see that we have two people, romantically involved, having a conversation that is so rattling to the senses that it is compared to (in metaphor) “Cascading Light Storms.” By the way, I love how this is capitalized, because otherwise I would not have identified it as a noun, so therefore, that’s definitely a great technique. And while we’re on the subject of light, I am happy to notice that there is a lot of it in this poem—thereby using the same word to play with different images. Light is an interesting symbol to use because it is so transient and elusive, yet it is something that we completely depend on, and even crave. So, I love the recurring “light” motif. The only thing I wonder about is the fact that the same word (light) is used twice, and in close proximity, in one line: “defused like the light of the cascading Light Storms.” To me, this was a little bit distracting, even though I totally understand the idea of wanting to keep that word in the reader’s mind (which I think is ultimately achieved).

Now, I guess, for the issues…Like I said, I really like this poem. I think the language is absolutely gorgeous. I love lines like “”Jangling sound ricochets amid times that never came about.” And I love how this particular line is followed by the next: “Never came about, but.” It’s good. It flows well and it modifies the idea from one line to the next, much like the light motif is doing. My concern is the fact that I don’t really feel privy to the conversation at hand. I mean, what I do have are fragments of thoughts, taken completely out of context. All of what is never as perfect as less? This is my major concern with the poem—I just don’t really get the dynamic of the conversation, and I feel like I should. I understand that the narrator discovers something in the short span of time that these lines take up—I get the fact that he has a “moment of realization.” I think the language of the poem makes that very clear—“light” is definitely being shed on the issue (ha ha)—with language like “And this time it feels real.” So, if that’s the point, then I think the author has achieved his goal. I just wonder exactly what they are talking about, and that kinda bugs me.