Today danger doesn’t surpass the wonder.
Today fireflies and wildfires coexist in the same
breath, one light not canceling out the other.
In the seaside roses, it’s easy to unearth prayers,
find keepsakes among the sagebrush grown wild.
Some days darkness tastes more like lightness,
a concoction brewed from honeysuckle vines,
a flannel shirt forgotten in a community garden.
Beyond the shadows, there are starlings
and starshine, cloudstorms and cloudscapes,
someone’s eyewitness account of the sea.
Perhaps the afternoon light simmers as an unspoken
apology, a flicker of radiance tucked in the feathers
of invasive birds. Today, we love a planet still
burning, one we’re still harming.
We plant more sugarsnap peas, wait for blossoms,
the garden blooming into something softer,
even with our all mistakes, we see beauty take root.
—
Kelli Russell Agodon is a bi/queer poet from the Pacific Northwest. Her book Accidental Devotions will be published by Copper Canyon Press in 2026. Her previous collection, Dialogues with Rising Tides, was a finalist for the Washington State Book Awards. Kelli is the cofounder of Two Sylvias Press and teaches in Pacific Lutheran University’s MFA program, the Rainier Writing Workshop. She is also the cohost of the poetry series “Poems You Need with Melissa Studdard”. www.agodon.com
