When I can’t find the light,
I look for it in small things
glowing. I flick a switch
to ignite white bulbs
on branches, each reflected
four-eyed in the double
window pane, multiplying
possibility. I find it
captured in my bridal veil,
cascade of white descending
from a frame a foot above
my desk twelve years behind me.
But some nights I sit
with a glass and a remote
and stare toward a scene,
probably a romantic comedy.
When the screen goes black
after the credits, I can’t find
the light–I am the dark
leather couch, black pillow,
empty glass. Still there are
a couple wicks in a hand-poured
candle. This empty glass
could catch the flames, refract
and fill to overflowing. Strike
a match, small thing. Glow.
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine.
For with You
is the fountain of life;
in Your light we see light.
Psalm 36:9
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Published by Sarah M. Wells
Sarah M. Wells is the author of Between the Heron and the Moss (2020), The Family Bible Devotional: Stories from the Bible to Help Kids and Parents Engage and Love Scripture (2018), Pruning Burning Bushes (2012), and a chapbook of poems, Acquiesce, winner of the 2008 Starting Gate Award through Finishing Line Press (2009). My memoir, American Honey: A Field Guide to Resisting Temptation, and the second volume of devotionals, The Family Bible Devotional: Stories from the Gospels to Help Kids and Parents Love God and Love Others, will be released in 2022. Sarah's work has been honored with four Pushcart Prize nominations, and her essays have appeared in the notable essays list in the Best American Essays 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2018.
Sarah is the recipient of a 2018 Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council. She resides in Ashland, Ohio with her husband and three children.
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