Dark at the Bottom by Richard Spilman
They lie there waiting
in the dark
at the bottom of the stairs,
and you stop halfway,
your fear penumbral
like memory.
Too old for this, you curse
the burnt out light.
The thing you need
is only a step into the shadow.
Still, it feels like
going under.
You descend slowly,
ready at a whisper
to run,
find by touch what you need,
clutch it in both hands
and let the darkness
take you, like a child
at pier’s end,
after a long night
ablaze with summer storms,
whispering as he dips his feet
into the swells.

Near the end of this module, you read a poem titled “Dark at the Bottom” and then answered several questions about the poem to prepare for a discussion about its quality. For this discussion post, you’ll summarize your evaluation of the poem and respond to the evaluations of other students.

Locate the worksheet Discussing Literary Quality, which you should have completed at the end of the Discussing Literary Quality lesson. In a paragraph or two, summarize your thoughts about the poem, based on the notes you added to the worksheet. Read your discussion post carefully to make sure it conveys your evaluation of the poem’s quality as a piece of lyric poetry.