This Too Is Prayer
No, not some lover’s
glance, a newborn’s grin,
sunset, autumn leaves – but
this: green fluorescent
protein, a molecule
borrowed from the jellyfish
to turn our cells to
glowing dancing
labourers we applaud
as they go about
their daily tasks:
building inspection,
maintenance. Now they
have us to witness
their every act; not just,
of course, benign
construction. Not
just, of course, repair.
But how much better,
though, to see. Better
to no longer be in darkness
Tania Hershman is the author of a poetry chapbook, Nothing Here Is Wild, Everything Is Open (Southword, 2016) from which this poem is taken, and two story collections. She is curator of ShortStops (www.shortstops.info), and is completing a PhD in Creative Writing inspired by particle physics. www.taniahershman.com