WHIMSY
the madrigal, volume iii
First Light
by alexandra gipson
Traces of sleep float away
The haze of an early June morning
​
Altocumulus clouds dyed coral, blush, pearl
sail, braided, across the honest blue sky
​
A fisherman casts his line,
secures a catch, reels in gold
Rays shatter the horizon, plunge
beneath blue tide, scatter diamonds
across the surface
​
Powdery, passive grains transition
to cool, thicker sand
No sound, not even the songs of birds,
but the calm ebb of water
Waves lap, relaxed, against
the bank until I storm in,
Raw cold shocks my bare skin
My feet induce ripples,
my body creates waves
and chaos in a frenzy
to collect the diamonds
that sink
slowly
Alexandra (Ali) Gipson is a writer from & living in Pittsburgh, PA, who holds a BA in English from Seton Hill University. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Sampsonia Way, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Parhelion Literary Magazine, among others. She is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, works as a legal writer at an immigration law firm, enjoys reading, alternative and rock music, and Penguins hockey, and is on Twitter at @aligips.