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Contributing Writer Grief, Absence & Negative Space

Amelia Cross

Amelia Cross has contributed to Light & Composition since 2015. Her Reflections meditate on what is no longer there — the absence with a shape, the gap left by something specific that once existed. Amelia's writing is never vague in its grief: she names what is gone, precisely, and finds in that precision a kind of staying power. Readers return to her pieces at particular times of year. They tend to know exactly why.

287 Published Reflections

Reflections by Amelia Cross

Showing 12 of 287 essays
The Weight of the Beacon Photo of the Day
September 28, 2020

The Weight of the Beacon

There is a specific silence that belongs to the coast, the kind that follows the departure of a ship. It is not an empty silence; it is a heavy, waiting thing, like the space left in a bed when the person who slept there has finally risen. We build lighthouses not to celebrate the light, […]
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The Geometry of What Remains Photo of the Day
September 16, 2020

The Geometry of What Remains

There was a skylight in my grandmother’s attic that I was never allowed to reach. It was a jagged triangle of glass, perpetually clouded by dust and the slow, grey drift of city soot. I spent my childhood imagining that if I could only climb high enough to touch it, I would find the sky […]
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The Weight of the Rain Photo of the Day
August 29, 2020

The Weight of the Rain

There is a specific silence that falls when the sky finally breaks. It is not the absence of sound, but the sudden, heavy presence of water where there was once only expectation. I remember the way the air used to turn metallic before a storm in my childhood home, the way the dust would settle […]
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The Weight of Rising Photo of the Day
August 27, 2020

The Weight of Rising

There is a specific silence that belongs only to the very early morning, before the world has decided who it is going to be for the day. It is the silence of a house where a fire has gone out, leaving behind only the gray, cooling ash of what once provided warmth. We spend our […]
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The Weight of Unspoken Years Photo of the Day
July 14, 2020

The Weight of Unspoken Years

There is a specific silence that belongs to children who have been asked to hold the gravity of their elders. It is not a silence of peace, but a silence of waiting. I remember the blue ceramic bowl my grandmother kept on the mantle, which sat empty for three years after she passed; it was […]
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The Architecture of Silence Photo of the Day
July 7, 2020

The Architecture of Silence

There is a specific weight to the space where a branch once reached toward the sun, before the winter stripped it back to a skeletal reach. I am thinking of the coat rack in my childhood hallway, the one that stood empty for three years after my father stopped coming home. It was not just […]
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The Weight of the Horizon Photo of the Day
June 9, 2020

The Weight of the Horizon

There is a specific silence that follows the closing of a door. It is not the silence of an empty room, but the silence of a room that has just been vacated, where the air still holds the temperature of a body that is no longer there. I think of the blue sweater my father […]
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The Weight of the Ascent Photo of the Day
June 7, 2020

The Weight of the Ascent

There is a specific silence that lives in the high places, the kind that does not merely lack sound but actively consumes it. It is the silence of a mountain pass after the wind has died, where the air is so thin it feels like it might slip through your lungs without leaving a trace […]
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The Wake of Morning Photo of the Day
June 1, 2020

The Wake of Morning

The blue ceramic mug that sat on the edge of the porch for three years is gone. It was chipped at the rim, a jagged little scar that caught the light every morning at seven, just as the sun began to pull itself over the horizon. When it was there, it anchored the day; it […]
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The Weight of Flour Photo of the Day
March 7, 2020

The Weight of Flour

There is a specific silence that lives in the hands of a child learning a trade. It is not the silence of emptiness, but the silence of a future being folded into the present. I remember the kitchen table in my grandmother’s house, specifically the way the flour would dust the dark wood like a […]
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The Weight of Light Photo of the Day
March 4, 2020

The Weight of Light

There is a specific silence that follows the departure of a songbird. It is not merely the absence of sound, but the sudden, heavy realization that the air was once occupied by a frantic, beating heart. I remember the way the light used to catch the dust motes in my grandmother’s kitchen, illuminating the space […]
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The Weight of Empty Rooms Photo of the Day
March 2, 2020

The Weight of Empty Rooms

There is a specific silence left behind by a coat that no longer hangs on the hook. It is not merely the absence of wool or fabric; it is the absence of the person who moved through the world wearing it, the one who carried the scent of rain and tobacco into the hallway. We […]
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