It's just poetry, it won't bite

Lantern Light


07.22.17 Posted in today's words by

Susie Sweetland Garay’s most recent poem to appear here was “A fast burn or a slow unfolding” (March 2017)

Lantern Light
By Susie Sweetland Garay

It’s been getting dark,
so dark,
these days
and the cold is coming
and the sun is so hard to find.
Time feels short and particularly precious

and at times it feels easier
to hide
or pretend.

But motherhood makes pretending harder
and the desire to fight stronger

so we set down the confusion,
the tangle of emotion
we can’t fully view
or understand

we offer up what we have.
We help
and show our daughters
what comes from helping.

We are in a place that feels strange
and unfinished—
because truthfully
every place is strange and unfinished.

There is no changing some things.

So we carry on.
We mother.
We create.
We plan.
We keep the world moving
with paying bills and making meals
and cleaning up all manner of messes.

We move as if one hand
was tied behind our backs.

We wait for rain,
for puddles to form,
wait for dark
and then for the magic of the moonrise.

We are such moody creatures.

Sledding in the dark by lantern light
her laughter echoes
and I wonder what space
leaving here will leave us with.



3 Responses to “Lantern Light”

  1. Jeremy Nathan Marks says:

    I always love reading Susie’s poetry. Her work is incisive but with a gentle touch. She has such a clear, recognizable voice.

  2. A lovely picture, you’ve painted.

Latest Podcast Episode
vox poetica archives