Hello, Light

I remember, too, the sunrise.

The miracle of dawn just

when I deemed myself

destined to dwell

darkened forever

First, a flickering

like tiny fireflies

of silver, then wavering

like a lone meek candle

braving the horizon

Then, peeking

like golden dapples

through trees; hope dancing

and pirouetting in invitation

And finally,

like you struck

your divine match

and—reckoning it

to my heart—engulfed me.

And I remember

how it drove the darkness

screaming. How, at first,

I stood bewildered, blinking

like an unburrowed mole

before your brilliance,

astonished to find

that you warmed

instead of blistered