Brian Lee Estill

The Black Menorah Brian Lee Estill

The Black Menorah first came to my imagination in 2004. At first I drew it in my notebooks and painted it on my clothes. In 2010 I created the mosaic. In 2014 I refurbished the mosaic and grouted it with glitter grout. That's also when the story-poem came to me. I wrote the poem in three days--those three nights I had nightmares. I was visited by a very angry and ugly demon.

I think of the black menorah as a symbol of my faith, more than the cross or Star of David. What is the black menorah? It is a shadow of what's to come. What does the black menorah mean? It stands as a testament that good will always prevail over evil, that light will always conquer darkness, and the next right decision will always be better than the next wrong decision. Simply put--don't give up.