Monthly Archives: June 2026

The Candle

I’ll leave the candle on tonight,

Don’t quite know why. I think the light

Would comfort me, though why I need

Such comforting I’ll not concede.

I’ll tell myself it’s atmosphere,

But needing that is just as drear

As needing comfort. So I’ll flout

My need at large and blow it out.

Jeffrey Essmann is an essayist and poet living in New York. His poetry has appeared in numerous magazines and literary journals, among them Dappled Things, the St. Austin Review, Amethyst Review, America Magazine, Pensive Journal, Forma Journal, and The Society of Classical Poets. He is a certified catechist with the Archdiocese of New York, a Benedictine oblate of St. Mary’s Abbey in Morristown, NJ, and editor of The Catholic Poetry Room.

My Horse and Her Rider

When I went out to my shade garden
to sit under the trees with my journal,
Jesus came to me,
sitting tall in the saddle,
inviting me with his quiet eyes

to trust my voice enough to ride.
I didn’t know why he came
on horseback, only that it was time
to climb up and wrap my arms around him.

When we gallop, I can’t see
where I’m going,
I don’t hold the reins,
I can’t control the speed.

But together we ride
the wind in me,
leading me into
all I am made for.

Michelle Wiegers is a poet from Maine and author of the forthcoming memoir, Wildness Within. Her poetry has appeared in The Wonder of Small Things, How to Love the World, The Path to Kindness, One Art, The Wayfarer, Third Wednesday and Birchsong, among others. In her new podcast, Creating Space, she shares poetry and stories from her life to inspire listeners to free their authentic and creative selves. Find her online at michellewiegers.com