Beauty’s Return

Light streams in
through the door you have left open.
Sunlight reflects off the rugged old floors
and brings out the color on the wall.

It is morning,
The warmth leaks into the room
and you hear birds singing
with abandon in the light outslde,

calling you to leave your dark corner
and blow out the candle that has sustained you.
Calling you to savor the color and the warmth,
yes, and even the fear that has kept you here so long.

Yes, night will come again,
but it is not night now. It is morning,
and you have survived the darkness and its demons
in a never ending battle, epic only in its endurance.

It is time to dance, to gather flowers and smell the air,
fresh after the nights storm. It is time to love,
not in fear but with abandon, with fire and song.
It is time to reclaim the beauty to savor each color

like a fine painting,
It is time to walk in the light, through the door
and into the sun, squinting, tears escaping,
overwhelmed by beauty’s return.

About this Poem

This poem was inspired by the picture, which was taken at Dutton House in Shelburne, VT.   It was also inspired by the encouragers in my life, who are so often my light when I do not have a light of my own.

Thank you.

Tom