Future Portrait of Dark Matter

by Gene Twaronite

Someday, an artist will paint it and it will

hang in plain view in a distant gallery.

Don’t worry if, at first, all you see is a gilt frame

surrounding black space. Look deeper and you

begin to feel a presence there, pulling you inward.

You notice faint rings and arcs of light appear

and a slight twitching in the fabric as if to signal

there’s more to the picture hidden behind the canvas.

Draw closer now and you will know its true face

as the fabric stretches apart and the lights go dark.