Rhapsody of Light
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
And the glory of your Lord has risen upon you
— Isaiah 60 vs 1
Across the face of a new dawn,
an orchid blooms in sunlight-lustre
in a sea of rosewater. & a prism
of mutilated light pares the skin
of the river. Again, my bones quiver
into sonatas—a thread of light stitching
my sinews into ribbons. A prayer escapes
my lips: dear Lord, keep the sanctuary in my heart
burning for you, & a zephyr sweeps embers
of grace into my eyes raking the cataracts,
a bride of wiildflowers colonized
by a colony of forsythias.
I see it now—the whitened breath
scorched of tremor in the shadows,
the fingers clasped at the threshold of heaven,
the opened windows, & the silhouette
of a white dove plummeting. I fall into flight,
& it is a rapture that ladders me
into a rising rhapsody.
Revelation:
I stretch my hands to the skies,
& a confetti of goodness drenches me
in their opulence. Spirit, lead my feet
to walk upon the waters, & not faint.
I beckon to your oil-lamp.
I, a name folding into the mouth of my God.
On the last day, He called light.
& I became. & I was light. & I sang glory!
BIO:
Adesiyan Oluwapelumi, TPC XI, is a medical student, poet, essayist & Assistant Editor of Fiery Scribe Review. Winner of the Cheshire White Ribbon Day Creative Contest (2022), & 1st runner up in the Fidelis Okoro Prize for Poetry (2023). His works are published in Fantasy Magazine, Poet Lore, Tab Journal, Poetry Wales, Variant Literature & elsewhere.
And the glory of your Lord has risen upon you
— Isaiah 60 vs 1
Across the face of a new dawn,
an orchid blooms in sunlight-lustre
in a sea of rosewater. & a prism
of mutilated light pares the skin
of the river. Again, my bones quiver
into sonatas—a thread of light stitching
my sinews into ribbons. A prayer escapes
my lips: dear Lord, keep the sanctuary in my heart
burning for you, & a zephyr sweeps embers
of grace into my eyes raking the cataracts,
a bride of wiildflowers colonized
by a colony of forsythias.
I see it now—the whitened breath
scorched of tremor in the shadows,
the fingers clasped at the threshold of heaven,
the opened windows, & the silhouette
of a white dove plummeting. I fall into flight,
& it is a rapture that ladders me
into a rising rhapsody.
Revelation:
I stretch my hands to the skies,
& a confetti of goodness drenches me
in their opulence. Spirit, lead my feet
to walk upon the waters, & not faint.
I beckon to your oil-lamp.
I, a name folding into the mouth of my God.
On the last day, He called light.
& I became. & I was light. & I sang glory!
BIO:
Adesiyan Oluwapelumi, TPC XI, is a medical student, poet, essayist & Assistant Editor of Fiery Scribe Review. Winner of the Cheshire White Ribbon Day Creative Contest (2022), & 1st runner up in the Fidelis Okoro Prize for Poetry (2023). His works are published in Fantasy Magazine, Poet Lore, Tab Journal, Poetry Wales, Variant Literature & elsewhere.
