“Afternoon”
A poem.
I have just been up
To the mountaintop,
And am come again,
Down into the valley.
Though the mountain light
Remains, the shadows are long,
And the walls,
Sheer.Lines begun—and then rediscovered—in an outburst of need. Sunday afternoon, Jan. 18, 2026.
Note from the poet:
This may seem a simple poem. It is, in a way, but there are several intertwined readings available to you depending on how, among other things, you answer the question of who the speaker is.
With my first poem (“My Friend’s Headlamp”) having served as a preface for all the rest, this second poem begins a sequence of three that together gave rise to the title “Songs for the Eighth Day,” which theme has shaped all of my subsequent work.
Poems in this sequence:
“Afternoon”
“Evening”
What did you think?
What images, poems, passages of Scripture, or other works of imagination or analysis came to mind in your reading, either by way of similarity of theme and form or by way of contrast?
Did any line, phrase, or image stand out, either positively or negatively?
Was anything either unduly explicit or obscure?
Did you feel that there were, perhaps, any infelicities of poetic punctuation or any other missed opportunities?
Please share your comments and/or your constructive criticism below, in the chat, via DM, or by emailing me directly.
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It isn't true that religion is a deliberate turning away from life, she wrote. Though maybe it seemed morbid in that it led you to struggle with dark questions of doubt and with the shadow of death. But there is greater struggle in turning away from God, of succumbing to a life of just getting by, just doing enough. And she couldn't do without the sacraments and the guidance of St. Teresa, who understood the weariness of the soul, of St. Francis de Sales, who said be gentle with ourselves, of Jean-Pierre de Caussade, who advised abandonment to divine providence, and of Father Considine, who spoke of a God so kind and loving that he would give us everything. - Kate Hennessy, Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved By Beauty