this love, this knuckle, or joint, or lunge of light by Marina DawnJust before the sun turns off comes that lunge
of light setting each window in the city on fire.
Behind that city, a field where the sun pauses
a moment to shut the small mouths of its molecules
placing a hot, gentle finger on their lips.
Then there--beyond the field--the herons swooping,
their white bodies netted in that final
flame, grieving through the grass,
backlit and as slender as forgetfulness,
this desire to believe what was lost
was not. The slender forgetfulness of continuing
the search. Dropping the fine thread of their beaks
against the new night sky.
How simple, still
like that singular memory I have retained
all these years of your skin
meeting the day's final stitch of light, which paused
a moment to bloom there. Who could blame it.
Your skin, in that moment, a darkness lit from behind,
like the sometimes darkness of yearning, like two
tiny, upset hands deciding to hinge together
the fix and the fissure.
That memory. I know.
Just a joint, a knuckle in the scheme of what was lost.
And the herons, after all, only a seam
left in the memory of the grass.
07/29/2005 Posted on 07/29/2005 Copyright © 2025 Marina Dawn
Member Comments on this Poem |
Posted by Lacy D Phillips on 07/30/05 at 05:50 PM What a restorative joy to read! Excellent rumination on the theme of light. You should write a companion piece about sunrises. |
Posted by Graeme Fielden on 08/02/05 at 01:37 PM This is a deeply descriptive, well-thought piece of writing. The metaphorical descriptions make this brilliant. At least in my opinion... :) |
Posted by Linda Fuller on 07/01/10 at 04:19 PM gorgeous, into favorites |
Posted by Elizabeth Shaw on 08/06/10 at 12:31 PM we will never lose this, this yearning beauty in this poem that blossoms from your womb soul like an orchid in the marsh. sigh ... gorgeous |
Posted by Meredith C Hartwell on 01/25/15 at 11:54 PM It had been a few months since I'd gone exploring on pathetic, so I scrolled back through the Poem of the Day history. This is a beautiful, thoughtful, and worthy piece, overdue for the acknowledgement. Thank you for sharing, and congrats for the PotD. |
Posted by Richard Vince on 08/01/20 at 09:35 AM sunset has long been my favourite time of the day (which of course means my favourite time of the day is different according to the time of year). you've captured its magic and its metaphor beautifully here. just incredible. |
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