- Vocation
The world is a bright field and I a laborer,
enlisted by a brighter love, a light delighted to illumine
every curve and canyon, ice cap and prairie,
the scuffed floor tiles in this small town cafe, each
captivating face at work or tarrying here. Like Simone, barista
whom my wife wants our friend Geoff to meet; or Ian
from Ireland who speaks well of his Savior to anyone
with time and ears to hear; or kind Christine who runs the place;
or Ahmed and his chatty band of schoolmate brothers
whose prophet has no peer. This is the bright
world, my field, little universe that I will fail if I fail
to attend to each part, and the whole, and the light that delights [End Page 113]
to illumine shop, river, hedgerow, village and villager. [End Page 114]
Brad Davis lives in Pomfret, CT, where he is a counselor, teacher, and coach at the Pomfret School. His poems have appeared in such journals as Chautauqua, Image, Ascent, Paris Review, and Poetry. His most recent books of poetry include Opening King David, Self Portrait w/Disposable Camera (chapbook), and Sunken Garden Poetry 1992–2011 (anthology). He has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. davis.bradley.c@gmail.com