Secular Grace
See this snapshot
of an aluminum lawn chair
at dusk?
Late evening light
especially in summer
dignifies plastic chairs,
rusted cars, the bloated cow
on the hill killed by lightening.
People, too, gain radiance
this time of day. The homeless pair
walking toward their rag nest,
the child playing with dust balls
on the linoleum floor.
To me, it is a true light,
as true as the sun at noon,
but cruel the way
midsummer minutes
sanctify the mass of flies,
the wretched couple,
the unloved, untended child.
War photographers
know this phenomenon.
I wonder what they call it.
