J.C. Scharl

Crumbs on the Kitchen Table

So this is how the world

looked in its morning:

even the out-of-place things

clearly at home, scattered

by a swift hand intent

on as many things as could be,

set in an artful disorder so that light,

streaming in from the East,

floods and settles among them

like gold around jewels.

Every crumb’s face

is scrubbed to a sheen,

and a long, merry shadow

streams out westward

from each little rounded shoulder

like a banner over the parade ground

of the table, proclaiming

the triumph of existence.

J.C. Scharl is a poet and critic. Her poetry has appeared internationally on the BBC and in some of the nation’s top poetry journals, including The New Ohio Review, The Hopkins Review, and The American Journal of Poetry. Her criticism has appeared in many magazines and journals, including Dappled Things, The Lamp, Fare Forward, Religion & Liberty, and others. She is the author of the poetry collection Ponds (Poiema Poetry Series, 2024) and the verse play Sonnez Les Matines (Wiseblood, 2023).