Penumbra

Sidestep this shunt of sundown
lancing through boughs,
spilling its honey
like too much hope,
and . . .
let’s skirt that lone hemlock,
fevered with knobs of blight,
unnerving and raw as today’s
news: “Inoperable.”
Now . . .
wordless as moss,
let’s edge into the shade,
placing each foot, like a kiss,
alongside the living,
where . . .
dusk pours us two shadows:
1.) “I’m gonna die, maybe
by inches” (amid seeping
dread, seizing an ankle)
or else . . .
2.) “Let’s dance”—joy belling
outward, tenebrous, wrapping us,
sheer as a veil: layered
gauze, for all our tomorrows.

Flaw

Jangle of car keys
numbing a palm, telltale
glint off the windshield—

this blasted weather
pinpoints the rock chip
I meant to fix. Ruthless

frost highlights the fault,
shearing off,
in nine directions, where

lightning bolts morph
into prehensile tails:
a seahorse ballet. I will not pretend

that daily resisting
encroachment does not
wear me down: scouring

grout, SOS-ing old kettles,
smiting grime. Into this pane
of glass I scratch, no . . . gouge

God’s name, like a firebreak,
hoping each ascender,
each dot and serif ripens

into ice fronds and wings—
and atonement, starkly
sure as a reef of herringbone.

From the endless marring
we blame on living,
it radiates: this unearthly filigree.

I am ever-heartened by the contemplative Benedictine mindset: "Always We Begin Again.” Most mornings, reading and journaling focus, challenge, and inspire me. Then, I write. Or, camera in hand, I might savor a meditative walk, always on the lookout for soul mimosas—those images that arrest the eye and, upon reflection, effervesce with sudden insight, stirring hope. Mirth. Marvel. Since January, I have especially cherished yoga as well as the ancient, embodied prayer of Julian of Norwich, with its four eloquent movements: Await, Allow, Accept, and Attend.

Laurie Klein is the author of a poetry collection, Where the Sky Opens, and a prize-winning chapbook, Bodies of Water, Bodies of Flesh. A past recipient of the Thomas Merton Prize for Poetry of the Sacred, her work has appeared in various journals, anthologies, recordings, and hymnals.
She scripts and records thematic poetry programs for TweetSpeak poetry patrons, and she posts monthly on her website.

More on Laurie Klein’s work can be found on our Links page.