Evensong

Look, now, how Venus gleams, a pendant hung
upon the breast of darkness. She alone
can touch this ache of dusk—my heart dethroned.
And though I've turned and walked on paths far flung,
the press of life and thirst of heart, their pace
shall never match, but always one outstrips
the other, just as she is bound to dip
into the night, then falls across the face
that burns so fierce, her gentleness outshone.
O Sun, I do not mean to sulk, or spurn
your own magnificence. I only yearn
to stand within the mystery and own
my place upon that stage, to know
the candle flame that's mine, before I go.

Stephanie Thomas Berry is an artist and writer living in the Toe River Valley of Western North Carolina. In the studio, she works most often in pastels, but she also enjoys making detailed drawings with Micron pens. Her art celebrates the heart connection we all have with Nature.

About Evensong— This poem was inspired by the transcendent sight of Venus and Jupiter clinging together low on the horizon. I was struck by the fleeting brilliance of the Evening Star, and found in it subject matter perfectly suited to the sonnet form.