Last night
clouds turned cantaloupe electric,
backlit in neon.
That must be where God lives, I thought,
though I don’t much believe in God.
Sunsets are reason enough to imagine
that heaven’s in the sky —
a transcendent finale,
coda of the day.
As years count down, I think
about sunsets, seasons —
leaves falling,
branches bare.
Perhaps I should believe.
The closest I get is sunset —
enough ecstasy,
enough God.
Sarah Russell
For Poets United
Photo source
Sarah Russell Poetry 
That’s beautiful
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Thanks, Beth.
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YES! This is how I felt, the sunset I described in my poem – that this must be what heaven looks like. Your photo is SPECTACULAR. I stalk the sunset which is elusive at this stage of my life, when I dont have the eyesight to drive to where I can see it and have to wait for someone to take me which rarely happens. I so want to take more photos like yours.
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Thanks. Sherry. When I read your poem I saw the similarities. Alas, the photo isn’t mine, though it does look like the sunset that inspired the poem. It is from a “free use” site called Pexel.
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AH, just beautiful — every image and every feeling turning into a profound reverie. Loved the beginning: “cantaloupe electric, backlit in neon”. An inspired verse.
-HA
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Thank you, HA. I found it hard to capture the colors in words. This is as close as I could come.
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p.s. i’m not very ‘god-is’ either. i kind of see nature as a kind of magic provided for us by the universe.
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Yes. That’s what I feel too. But the most spiritual/philosophical I get is when I’m in nature.
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Lovely poem with heavenly lines.
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Thanks very much, Vicki.
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Nature does make us prayerful, isn’t it? Your lines captivated vast beauty magnificently.
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Thank you, Sumana.
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That resonates.. something wonderful must point to a larger truth.. or maybe the not knowing just makes it larger or wonderful! Lovely, Sarah.
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What a beautiful interpretation, Rajani. Thank you. Sometimes you need another poet to help you figure out what you meant!
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Lovely voice in this piece Sarah, both aspiring ‘perhaps I should believe’ and then in the next breath a resigned realist ‘… Enough ecstasy / enough God ‘
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Thanks, Peter. Yes, that realism always creeps in to my early Sunday School beliefs. It doesn’t ruin sunsets for me though!
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Loved the images, the rhythm…makes me wish I had a daily poem playlist 🙂
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Thanks so much. For your daily poem playlist, try https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/workshop-0?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Poem-a-Day%20%20September%2013%202018&utm_content=Poem-a-Day%20%20September%2013%202018+CID_673981b24acf635fb14f613689fae1d7&utm_source=Email%20from%20Campaign%20Monitor&utm_term=Workshop. You can sign up on the website, and they’ll send one every morning. I love that site.
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Right there with you on this, Sarah. I love,
“clouds turned cantaloupe electric,
backlit in neon.”
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Thanks a lot, Sara.
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Spectacular imagery and image, Sarah! I especially love:
‘clouds turned cantaloupe electric,
backlit in neon’
and.
‘a transcendent finale,
coda of the day’.
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Thanks, Kim!
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BEAUTIFUL!
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Thanks, Dodie.
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