by Patricia Hope

1.	Wash the palest yellow 
on the pre-dawn sky, then
tinge it with streaks of orange 
as the night turns to day
2.	Place the red ball of sun in the
center, there, in the eastern sky just
above the horizon.
3.	Then fade the ball to a brilliant white 
against a blue sky
4.	Rest for a while as mortals enjoy the day
You have painted for them. 
5.	Then, as dusk descends, repeat steps 1-3, 
backward. 
6.	Dot the velvet of night with tiny 
stars, constellations, galaxies. Dab a sliver 
of moon there, just above the 
treetops.
7.	Listen to the “Thank God” prayers
for all I have given them, as they sleep 
in restful memory of a perfect day.

Patricia Hope’s award-winning writing has appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, Number One, Pigeon Parade Quarterly, 2021 Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Living Lutheran, The Upper Room, Home Life, Mature Years, The Mildred Haun Review, Liquid Imagination, American Diversity Report, and many others. She lives in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. 

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