This poem by Siân Lim was entered in The Good Oil 2025 Writers’ Award, which has the aim of supporting and encouraging the development of both emerging and published writers.

She walks, the Light

By Siân Lim

She walks, the Light, leading us towards dawn,
Smudging her hem on its dirty banks,
Shimmering over the trickle of day
As she prepares to flood the world below.

Called by the morning song of the magpie,
She darts down the long stretch of highway,
Stretching out her arms to touch every blade of grass,
Awakening each to a new day, drawing each along.

She sizes up the city –

Dancing along buildings, blinding the early commuters
As they shuffle, while she plays
Around city blocks, hiding from Shadow –

Always there when she is not.
Some stand and follow, while others weep,
Hallowed and hollow, having walked
Through the deep of night, pilgrims of sorrow.

As day presses on, she draws to her full height,
Casting her grim imperious eye
On this earth that would prefer the dark,
But embraces those who dare hope,
And are drawn along the warm path,
The luminous lesson, refraction of her heart.

For those who seek,
Light leads to another Light:
A mote in the corner of the eye,
A crack in the pavement opened,
A promise not yet received,
A wavelength of infinite crests
And troughs which break and pull – As the dusk laps at the shore of day,
The falcon floats like foil over the bay,
The peregrine soars, drawing to their destination,
And though Light fades, there is a new Dawn –

Walking ever on.