Distant Light
       

       Moon angles oblique through a midnight window;
       fire tumbles against woodstove glass --
       both remnants of the sun,
       light of another,
       stored and framed as diorama,
       large, small;
       ice and heat.

       Open the window.
       Reach into the dark, cold sky
       past a thicket of trees
       to that white goblet light.

       Unlatch the stove.
       Swing the gate on its hinge.
       Press your hand
       as near as you can to the flame.

       The hand is an agent of the eye.
       The hand cannot touch all things seen
       for want and abundance
       govern its reach.


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