a poem a day in the month of may
day two: sunlight
Welcome to day two! How was your time writing or reading?
I hope today’s prompt brings you a lot of life and tenderness as you lean in.
Let’s get started.
Sunlight
We say “mno waben”
as Grandfather Sun rises to see us.
He is, we’ve realized,
our guiding light,
our never-wavering companion.
He waves his hands
as plants rise to attention
and animals gather in shady spots.
He smiles on us as we play
beach volleyball and swim in oceans.
He hides behind clouds now and again
hoping to give a reprieve,
hoping the farmers can grow their crops
and tired people can find respite
even for a few moments.
And when his work is done,
he slowly makes his way home,
passing off the holy work
to his friend, Grandmother Moon.
He closes his eyes, yawns, and stretches,
and we say “Chii migwetch, Grandfather.”
The way of sunlight is the way of
everything—
thoughtful, tender, slow, ready for rest
when the day is done.
Ready for rest when the day is done.
Beautiful! I love the repetition at the end. Here’s mine (written on a sunny day after a lot of cloudy ones):
.
My party drug
My life-is-worth-living draught of
gold
My crack-my-withered-heart-open medicine,
life,
sustaining,
cracking the clouds like eggshells:
I can finally breathe.
sunlight
a reminder that
we have made it to
another day
what a blessing
to feel your
warm rays
touch our skin
but not for too long
a reminder to
too much sunlight
is detrimental
a curse of sorts
the lesson we should learn
be in awe and grateful
for the sunlight
but we must be aware
that we need shade
as well
thank you sunlight