Sunlight

On asking the philosophers,
What is the sun?, we get in answer,
An angel perched; a heap of furze

Some god has set ablaze; a burning
Iron that melts from sword to plow
To spearhead with the seasons’ turning.

And some wise soul guffaws at them
Or, condescending, calls it “poetry”
To disbelieve but not condemn.

Thus does the minute judge the hour,
Dismissing that primordial vision
Of truth that reigns with personal power.

About James Matthew Wilson

James Matthew Wilson is the author, most recently, of The Strangeness of the Good (Angelico, 2020). He serves as poetry editor for Modern Age magazine, series editor of Colosseum Books, and as director of the Colosseum Institute. He is the director of the MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Saint Thomas.