Early autumn light

Early autumn light
filters through branches
and leaves, parading
itself with shadows 
and patterns, fluid,
changing itself and
being changed by 
a brief puff of wind,
a passing bird sailing
on light-leavened currents,
a cloud.  

Early autumn light,
transient, ever-changing,
is discernible only
when paired with
darkness or shadow
ebbing toward
its wintry death. 
To understand the light,
first understand the dark.

Without confession

After I John 2:18-27

The shadow rose from the spaces

between us, and left, its leaving

becoming a vacuum of light, allowing

us to see each other clearly,

leaving us with truth to understand

the gift. Denial and its murmur

have departed, an unexpected

unanticipated gift, a gift

that remains. It is food, this gift,

to sustain. It is drink, this gift,

to quench our thirst. It is fire, this gift,

to purify hearts,

sere souls,

heal minds.

Photograph by Pacific Austin via Unsplash. Used with permission.