Timothy Sandefur

Walk in Beauty

To walk the blood means sensing all the things
that might have been, but aren’t; gripping Earth
beneath you like the roots that clutch the dirt
below the trees; drinking time from streams
that leave you with a thirst.

To walk the line means looking where your steps
might lead next time; it means that everything
can swivel on a single touch; it means
to measure every word to fit the depth
to which they’ll sink; to think.  

To walk in light means knowing where the sun
comes from; feeling that invisible
sphericity concealed by the dull
horizon, and to wait, as dark becomes
opaque, for miracles.

To walk in beauty means to carry on,
taking joy in giving life away;
to welcome night when night succeeds the day;
to let the stars remain where they belong
and love them anyway.

Timothy Sandefur is an attorney practicing law in Phoenix, and also the author of several books including biographies of Frederick Douglass and Jacob Bronowski, as well as on various legal subjects. His first book of poems, Some Notes on the Silence, will be published this spring by Kelsay Books.