Shrinking the dark

Photo by Nikola Knezevic on Unsplash

A Poem by Henrietta DuCap

Light pours through the gate,

shrinking the dark

apple of his eye—

in the black

I see my dim,

wrinkled reflection

looking back.

In one flash,

I watch the final fingers

of sun leave prints on

the spear that pierces his heart

and his mother’s

as the rays drain

from the turning planet.

The baby squints,

sees with me–

sees me, his pupil

follows my lips as I praise.

His hand grasps tight

the wiry white of my beard

and I need no other light.

Henrietta DuCap received her B.A. in Creative Writing from Cornerstone University, also studying fantasy literature at Oxford for a term. Her poems have appeared in several online and print journals such as Ekstasis and The Way Back to Ourselves. She lives in Lansing, Michigan with her husband and baby girl.