For some there is only truth, beauty and darkness.

It’s not my religion but I understand it as a member of the extended family might.

I find beauty too fickle, truth too unknowable, and darkness too heavy for deities.

But these sensitive souls search the shadows seeking something they might grasp and scratch open

into columns of blinding beauty for all of us to marvel.

Acclaim for these discoveries is rightfully given and theirs to receive.

But from a few steps away I know of the weight they bore on their journeys.

I know that some never find what they’re looking for and that even those that do will return often to the dark mine.

It’s too much for me.

I prefer the mystery of the half light and the beauty of thin places.

Painting and words by Nate Richardson.