Let there be light happened just this gradually,
not like flipping a switch
in the bathroom on Monday morning.
Stars contra-danced as the sun
dallied on the other side
of the earth. All the while the moon
coming into its shape of light—
December solstice conjunct full moon:
from now on the sky lit longer
and longer by the sun, impossible
to observe like the face of God.
But the moon like a mirror
invites the human gaze,
like God’s watch-face tells
no time but tides, like a silent
oracle offers no prophecies
too encrypted for a sleepy
woman in her kitchen
delaying sunrise
with her eyes.
Published in Many Mountains Moving, Spring 2002
©Beth Partin 2002. All rights reserved.
