Let Evening Come

Let Evening Come by Jane Kenyon

Let the light of late afternoon 
shine through chinks in the barn, moving
up the bales as the sun moves down.

Let the cricket take up chafing
as a woman takes up her needles
and her yarn. Let evening come. 

Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned
in long grass. Let the stars appear
and the moon disclose her silver horn. 

Let the fox go back to its sandy den.
Let the wind die down.  Let the shed
go black inside. Let evening come. 

To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop
in the oats, to the air in the lung
let evening come. 

Let it come as it will, and don’t 
be afraid. God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.

Thanks to the Poetry Foundation

Photo Credit: Christine Chepyha