What happens when we all bring whatever small light we have? I am grateful to Reformed Journal for publishing “Bioluminescence“–and grateful to Rose Postma for the podcast she did on this poem–in this 15-minute Reformed Journal podcast, I read the poem and we talk about its origins.
Bioluminescence
Sometimes, when I fear
the small light I bring
isn’t big enough or bright
enough, I think of that night
on the beach years ago
when every step I took
in the cool wet sand turned
a glowing, iridescent blue—
and the waves themselves
were a flashing greenish hue—
imagine we could do
what 7.9 billion
one-celled plankton can do—
can shine when it’s dark,
can shine when agitated,
can shine with our own
inner light and trust when we all
bring the tiny light we have,
it’s enough to illumine the next step
in the long stretch of night.
–Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer