Early Rays
By Ricard Gabarrús from Terrassa, Catalunya - 1677 Contraluz ., CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113197645
A slanting shaft of sunlight falls.
The oatmeal’s done. The kitchen walls
are lit up next to where we sit.
Glowing on the floor, a bit
of egg. A war with aces starts,
with hearts and clubs, while missing parts
of board games hide, sprinkled under
the couch with wrinkled apples. Wonder
and glee and selfishness, all three—
these lives, so unalloyed, aren’t free
from stain and void. Into these darks
let arcs of gold come dancing, sparks
of goodness that ignite a blaze
to warm and light the coming days.
Steven Searcy is the author of Below the Brightness (Solum Press, 2024). He lives with his wife and four sons in Georgia.