Shelly Bryant

Christmas Morning, 2012

a response to Yin Ge’s acrylic on canvas R-006

Friends have called or emailed all week, each in her turn rejoicing at being reunited with family or lamenting over holidays spent far from home.

It is a quiet Christmas morning for me, beginning with my daily routine of correspondence followed by work at my neighborhood coffee shop. The only variance made to my normal regimen in recognition of the holiday is that I did not bring translation work with me, nor any other paid assignment. The only file in my bag this morning contains my poetry manuscript. An unhurried start to the day, dedicated to solitude, and to verse.

beige canvas
by oaken frame contained
— a dance of joy