Beauty in the Dust

Once, when I was small, 
and banished to the hall 
for something I had done that wasn't right, 
I stood awhile in shame, 
but then the sunlight came, 
and lit the dusty air with dancing light. 

I watched in wondering awe, 
as suddenly I saw, 
what, standing in the shadows, I'd not seen. 
Invisible, but there, 
the dust that filled the air 
had caught the light and turned to silver sheen. 

Now sometimes, when I find 
this life to be unkind, 
I view my world with sorrow and disgust. 
But then God's radiant love, 
like sunlight from above, 
streams in, and I see beauty in the dust.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2025

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Dietrich Avatar
August 26, 2025 at 9:34 PM
I have not seen silver in dust but it must be amazing. Especially to make you feel this way and to think of God's love
VanHooser Avatar
August 27, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Hi Andrea, it may not have been silver, but in my memory of this it always has been. This was long ago, I was probably in the first or second grade in our tiny schoo with it's wood floors. Punishment for misbehaving was standing in the hallway as the classrooms were so small. Thanks for taking the time to read this poem. Ron
Godwin Avatar
August 14, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Oh, Ron, so tender that its sweetness pierces my emotions. I cannot bear that you may have actually once stood in a hall all night, I can't, (I choose to believe it was for poetic theme effect), but where that took your pen is a place so poetically golden, that there, I willingly went & would go again. A Beaut Poetry hugs ... CayCay
VanHooser Avatar
August 16, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Hi CayCay! I'm glad you enjoyed this one. It was not night, I was in grade school, probably second or third grade. I had done something I shouldn't have and had to go stand in the hall. What I remember most vividly was the dust stirred up from the wooden floor and the sun breaking through storm clouds. It is something that awed me at the time, and I still recall it clearly. Thank you My Friend.
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