The Persistence of Radiation

The beauty of the setting sun

          Is magical to see;

A spectacle new every day

          Yet known to you and me.

An image quite familiar

          In many stories told

Can help us see the majesty

          In things both new and old.

Consider how the western sky

          Unfurls, as well we know,

New patterns of colors and of clouds

          Once sun has dipped below.

The greatness of its influence

          Is not so cut and dry

That it ceases just because

          It’s hidden from our eye.

This great celestial witness

          Can bring into our mind

The power of a holy life

          With luminance of a kind.

While often eyes are drawn unto

          The central, radiant light,

The power found around the saints

          Can serve to stave off night.

The beauty’s never over

          Just when horizon’s reached,

Instead, we ought to wait and watch

          The glory never cease.