by Ellen McHugh

In the Eden-clear and so innocent air, 
let the violet sun fall steeple high—  
the paint of the night will not 
hold in place. Listen— the air 
is rising with human 
breath. It’s something 
akin to faithfulness, the echo 
of an evening hymn, 
the song already 
sweeter than  the curved space 
between the sound of sweetness 
and God’s breath.

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Ellen McHugh is a retired nurse and former adjunct instructor of English Composition at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, Ohio where she also served on the editorial staff of the school’s online literary journal, the Chagrin River Review. She holds an MA in English from Cleveland State University. Several of her poems have appeared in Cleveland State’s Whiskey Island and Litbreak magazines. Currently, Ellen is retired from work but not from life. She enjoys sketching, mulching, helping out in her community, and meeting up once monthly with the Church Ladies. She and her husband of 40 some years have three daughters and three grandchildren—each one, a blessing.