And There Was Light by Clare Harner

From "Choir Practice" (a monthly column of contemporary poetry selected by Charleston poet Ellen M. Carroll) in the Charleston, South Carolina Evening Post, August 14, 1936:

Charleston, SC Evening Post - August 14, 1936
via GenealogyBank

AND THERE WAS LIGHT
Because I knew the day had passed,
I did not see that the shades were fast:
   For there was no light within
      To keep from shining out.
   Nor light outside coming in—
      And my heart was filled with doubt.

And then one tiny ray, from where
It came, and how, I do not care:
   In whirling, brave advance
      It marched across the floor.
   By some uncanny chance
      My room was dark no more.

Then I lit a candle, pulled the shades
And practiced some lilting serenades.
All at once, my heart was light.
Queer to have been afraid of night!
—Clare Harner, Kansas.