Before
Before we stare at screens,
blanch before mirrors, don
our dazzling armor, before
we shield our eyes from those
who unloose their searching glance,
before night comes again
to drown us in doubt, morning
arrives, as it seems it will forever
arrive, slowly, patiently—
it wakes the sparrows and jays,
turns off streetlights,
opens us, like curtains
blowsy with light, into red
skies, asphalt avenues,
the blossoming before the dying
and the blossoming after the dying
in every open patch of earth.
Daniel Thomas’s second poetry book, Leaving the Base Camp at Dawn was published by Cherry Groves Collections in 2022. His first collection, Deep Pockets was published by St. Julian Press in 2018. He has published poems in many journals, including Southern Poetry Review, Nimrod, Poetry Ireland Review, Belmont Story Review, Amethyst Review, Still Point Arts Quarterly, Atlanta Review, and others. More info at danielthomaspoetry.com.
Amethyst Review 