Morning Sun

                morning sun—

                pears in a bowl

                striped by window blinds

This image struck a chord for me. So simple. So clear. And yet . . . the straight (rigid?) lines of light are being molded (we are not told this, we see it) by the curved shapes of the fruit making the lines less harsh. Those same straight (harsh?) lines of light warm the fruit—pears—the fruit of Aphrodite, goddess of love. But there are lines of shade, as well, cast by the window blinds—blind Homer singing his long poem of the beautiful Helen over whom men went to war, blinds behind which lovers make love, blinds through which morning sun comes streaming—and we have come round again ready to enter once more this provocative, inviting image.

—Patricia J. Machmiller

This appears to me to be a “still life.” The light from the sun is filtered through the blinds and so causes the pears in a bowl to appear to have stripes. Here is an image of stillness in which the natural elements (the pears) are contrasted with the artificial elements (the stripes from the blinds). It is an everyday image that often goes unnoticed. The writer is moved by this and calls on readers to share in a reflective mood.

—Jerry Ball