First Light

–after Georgia O’Keeffe, “Light Coming on the Plains No. 1” (1917)

And when you said Let light be
dawn came on the plains
creeping over canyon rim
and earth-edge, empty
of form and fashion

And day began to ripple forth
golden ribs of glowlight
that arched one over the other
a vaulted corridor to the eye
aware of depth 

and how things vanish

And we walked the passageway—
a cage that we felt would breathe
in the kiss of morning air—until 
we reached the final point
which was no point at all

And you said Nothing

KARL PLANK

Karl Plank is the author of The Grace of Falling Things: Poems (Grayson Books, 2024). His poetry has been featured on Poetry Daily and in publications such as Beloit Poetry Journal, Tahoma Literary Review, and Tiferet. A past winner of the Thomas Carter Prize (Shenandoah), he is the J.W. Cannon Professor of Religion, Emeritus, at Davidson College.