The closing inward
happens in front of everyone,
shows itself as brown, or red, or gold —
this surrender reveals the inner essence
with the unconscious grace
of truth

So it is
when harsher days
force us to abandon all pretext,
the unpretentious brightness
that we have no strength or attention
to hold back
simply shines
without our even knowing

We color,
we fall,
we turn —
so we are seen,
so we are known.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 5, 2016