The Light in the Darkness by Ruth Yarrow
toll booth lit for
Christmas—
from my hand to hers
warm change
—Michael Dylan Welch
I find this poem full of contrasts and of hope. The contrasts include the
lighted booth in the early dark of a December evening, the coins warmed by his
hand reaching out into cold Christmas weather, and the warmth of the connection
in what is a very impersonal fleeting monetary exchange. The hope I feel in
this poem comes from the light in the darkness, the hope of the season, the
reach across what may be class and race as well as gender lines, including the
smile and thanks I assume are there. And that last line has so many
reverberations. We are all humans, giving us the potential to connect with
warmth. We have the potential to change the global messes we are in if we make
those connections. I admit this is laying a lot on a short poem—maybe far too
much. But the feelings of connection, warmth and hope are all in that moment,
and after all, emotions are what makes any poem poetry. Thanks, Michael. +
This poem won second place in the
1995 Henderson contest for haiku, sponsored by the Haiku Society of America,
and was first published in Frogpond 18:4, Winter 1995. Ruth
Yarrow’s appreciation for “toll booth” appeared on Troutswirl, the blog for the
Haiku Foundation, on 4 February 2010, where it generated an extensive discussion. See also “Toll Booth Lit for Christmas” by Paul Miller and “Toll Booth Lit for Christmas” by Karen Sohne and Bill Pauly.
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