A Poem by Maria Carvalho: A Shining Moment

Winter can feel interminable and impenetrable  – especially during the grey days of February, and it’s poems like this one from Maria Carvalho that remind us that the grey is not permanent and indeed permeable. 

There is always sun behind that heavy bank of clouds!

Again, I’m so grateful to Maria for being a long time and consistent contributor to my Woolgathering magazine. Maria usually submitted tender short stories, but broke with tradition for this Winter Issue. I’m so glad that she did.

Check out more of Maria’s children’s literature and short stories by following her on Facebook @mariafreycarvalho

PS Yesterday felt so eerie as a dense fog had smothered the landscape. Driving through it made you feel simultaneously stuck in its thickness and lost in its fuzziness. I was so grateful for the headlights of oncoming traffic that fractured the darkness in geometric beams. I wondered what the world was before reflecting paint had been invented. These useful inventions sliced through the fuzzy darkness if even for a moment, and the scene very much reminded me of my illustration for this poem.

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A SHINING MOMENT

By Maria Carvalho

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I trudged through forlorn fields that lay beneath a heavy shroud of snow.

The trees were listless, their bare limbs raised beseechingly towards the slate heavens;

Ahead, a lonely mountain struggled wearily against the oppressive cloud ceiling,

And I felt the sting of bitter air—so still, it seemed as if the earth were holding its breath.

Suddenly, an azure sliver of sky appeared, revealing the long-absent sun in a flash.

Shielding my eyes, I gazed in wonder at the transformation in the landscape:

Snowy fields glittered gaily, exultant in their sparkling bunting;

The trees, adorned in lustrous beads of crimson berries, began a merry dance;

The unfettered mountain reached eagerly towards the blue portal;

And a mild breeze caressed my cheeks—perhaps the land was exhaling in relief.

Seconds later, the steely curtain of sky drew tightly closed—

Coldly shutting out the brilliant sun once again.

But though the light had faded, the world no longer felt quite so dark.

For in that shining moment, the possibilities of change were illuminated;

And the bright promise of hope was indelibly etched upon the land—and on me.