Light of the World

Seeing Shepherds by Daniel Bonnell

An Ekphrastic Poem by Rosa Lía Gilbert

Those angels could’ve formed 

another galaxy. Alone, they shone more 

than a million stars. At least 

that’s what the shepherds said: 

that their light was blinding, frightening.

A heavy presence over their heads.

As if they were trying to bring heaven down.

The shepherds said even the sheep,

stunned, stopped their baa-ing. 

That was before, before the other part 

of the story. Of walking up to the manger, 

of a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes,

not dressed like a savior. 

Not setting the firmament on fire,

Not singing his own praises. 

Not even crying, just cooing, silently waiting.  

But the light, his light. They said it spread

across his minute frame, from head to toe, toe to head. 

They said it was enough to keep

the whole universe going—

Alpha and Omega, beginning to end.

Rosa Gilbert is a publishing assistant at Calla Press Publishing LLC. Born and raised in the Dominican Republic, Spanish is her first language, but it was through learning English that she fell in love with words. Her work has been published at Ekstasis, Clayjar Review, The Way Back to Ourselves, Vessels of Light, Prosetrics Literary Magazine, among others. She lives in Ohio with her husband and daughter. You can find her writing at https://rosagilbert.substack.com/ and @rosagilbertpoetry.