Gabriela Mistral: "Dawn"

         
                                       I open out my heart so the Universe
                                  can enter like a cataract of fire.
                                  The new day comes; its coming
                                  takes my breath away.
                                  I sing, a hollow filled to overflowing,
                                  I sing my break of day.

                                       For grace lost and grace regained
                                  I stand humble, not giving and receiving
                                  until the Gorgon of the night
                                  flees defeated and takes flight.

"Dawn" by Gabriela Mistral, from the four-part poem "Time." From Selected Poems of Gabriela Mistral. Translated from the Spanish by Ursula K. Le Guin. © University of New Mexico Press, 2003.

Image credit: "Embarking Daybreak," acrylic painting by Sarah Goodnough.