Not so easy,
making light of things
these days

In other seasons, other times,
we might draw a paddle, run our hands
through coastal waters lit by
bioluminescence, leaving trails of
constellations in their wake

Instead, this long and moonless night
we listen to the ticking of
snow crystals against the window,
dark as diamonds
caught in kimberlite,
while Jupiter and Saturn
align behind the clouds

Consider now, how winter sun
illuminates the epilimnion of ice-locked lakes,
lighting the wicks of diatoms, and on to
copepods and cladocerans—
microscopic bits of life cavorting
at surprising numbers in the cold

In what seems like utter darkness,
harvest lumens like the owls,
flying by the gleanings
of their eyes’ abundant rods,
relying on the measure of brightness
that nature still affords.

For Barry Lopez