A Poem: Late Summer’s Morning

Sometimes the world is split open by light.

The mist shifts
and we wonder how we were ever afraid,

or thought ourselves ill equipped,
or our lives insufficient.

Sometimes the world is split apart
in the day’s light.

And the clarity,
too bright now for the eyes,

reveals why we are given to travel
normally,
as pilgrims with fogged glasses.

For who could truly contain
all that joy for long,

without cracking wide in response.

Without falling all over the place,
drenched in sunlight,

or love,

like the world is right now—
intoxicated.

Ana Lisa de Jong
Living Tree Poetry
February 2023