I’ll Explain

It’s something you say at your peril.

It’s something you shouldn’t contain.

It’s a truth for the dark and a pillow.

Turn out the light and I’ll explain.

It’s the obvious truth of the morning

Bitten back as the sun turns to rain,

To the rain, to the dark, to the pillow.

Turn out the light and I’ll explain.

It’s what I was hoping to tell you

It’s what I was hoping you’d guess

It’s what I was hoping you wouldn’t guess

Or you wouldn’t mind.

It’s a kind

Of hopelessness.

It’s the hope that you hope at your peril.

It’s the hope that you fear to attain.

It’s the obvious truth of the evening.

Turn out the light and I’ll explain.

-- James Fenton, from Out Of Danger