Paige Sullivan

Crystal Palace

—Raccoon Mountain Caverns, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Drips soft and unnoticed
like passing thoughts.
The light in some places
is only there because
we brought it. The rest:
installed by two brothers
who found this place
and dreamed about business.
Something mercenary,
economic. Some people
don’t want what’s natural
unless it’s a proposition.
You, the bride to be, suggested
the tour. An unspoken truth
between us: that we are within
a pace of lock-step in life.
The guide gestured to formations,
talked about carbonic acid,
tremendous movement, time.
Rock walls curving and soft
to the sight as clouds, ice cream,
sweet things. What we can’t
know is the way we will choose
to build then disassemble.
The guide said some creatures
in here only know the contours
of darkness. The light we carry
would only hurt them. How you
chose the flame, me the ash.

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Paige Sullivan is a poet and writer living in Atlanta. A graduate of the creative writing programs at Agnes Scott College and Georgia State University, her work has appeared or will soon appear in Harpur Palate, Puerto del Sol, Cherry Tree and other journals.