Yesterday the leaves fell, as they will,
and the air acquired distance and
a cold clarity that invites us to see higher,
tells us it is time to stop and look up,
to let the sky arrive, filtered only
through the dark webs of branches.
And later, the continent of night
with its celestial array comes
so close we can hardly breathe.
–
Luci Shaw was born in London in 1928 and has lived in Australia and Canada. Author of over 35 books of poetry and nonfiction prose, since 1986 she has been writer-in-residence at Regent College, Vancouver. In 2013 she received the 10th annual Denise Levertov Award for Creative Writing from Seattle Pacific University. Her most recent publications are The Thumbprint in the Clay (InterVarsity), Sea Glass: New & Selected Poems (WordFarm), and Eye of the Beholder (Paraclete), and The Generosity (Paraclete) is forthcoming in 2020. She lives in Bellingham, WA.