Illumination

You are not beautiful, or tall,
or very dark, or very fair.
In a crowd, I might not notice you -
your ordinary clothes and hair.

You’re self-contained.You remind me of
a light in a box with the lid held shut.
I wonder what I would find inside
if I opened it, if I ventured - but

this is my secret. Locked away
I keep you where my heart stands still,
where darkness covers, and my mouth
is silent as a stone until

you charge me with your honest eyes,
like questions beautiful and plain.
I shall not try to speak, I think,
and hesitate and pause - and then

shocked by an unexpectedness
I did not think to call my own,
I find my heart has turned again
into the sun, the sun, the sun.

Helena Nelson

If you've any comments on this poem, Helena Nelson would be pleased to hear from you.