We live in a radiant world,
Where sunshine fills the face.
Four suns shine up in our sky.
We’re spinning in their space.
It’s hard for clouds to hide the light,
For shadows too, to hide from sight.
Each gray is soft, each color bright.
Each day is long, and short each night.
We live in a radiant world.
The rays are locks of gold,
Flowing through each bend and bow,
Where pinks and flowers hold.
Four smiles, they provide the light.
Four pairs of eyes give joyful sight.
Four giggles make things warm and bright.
Four faces glow in dreams at night.
We live in a radiant world,
Where sparkling rivers run.
Sunshine streaming from four girls,
Four daughters, our four suns.
Notes:
Since I typed the comments below, we have introduced our fourth daughter into the world. The poem originally had three suns. My thoughts below are simply more intensified by the addition of our fourth sun, Ashlyn Ray.
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My wife and I recently learned that we are going to have our third baby girl. We are thrilled because our first two girls bring us so much joy. It will truly be like adding another source of light to our happy home. People sometimes ask me if I wished we were having a boy. This poem is their answer.
In some ways this poem is trying to capture our future reality because my wife is still sixteen weeks from her due date. We have never seen our third little girl’s face nor felt the warmth of her laughter. However, the reality of her life is already here. So in another very real sense, this poem expresses the impact on our hearts that she is already making. Below I have given some explanations of the poem’s construction with the hope that they may help a person to better appreciate my attempt to express my joy.
– The title of the poem is intentionally vague. Upon first exposure, a person may think that this poem applies to everyone. Only after reading the poem, does a person understand that the title-word “Our” is much more personal than representing all people. It simply refers to my wife and me.
– The first, third, and fifth stanzas follow a 7-6-7-6 syllable pattern. The rhyme scheme is obviously a-b-c-b These stanzas are intended to carry the main meaning of the poem. Presumably, a person could read the poem without stanzas two and four and still get the main point.
– In the second and fourth stanzas, every line has eight syllables. The rhyme scheme is obviously a-a-a-a. The last word in each line from stanza two matches those of stanza four. These stanzas are intended to expound on the stanza prior to them. So that stanza two draws out the prevalence of the radiance introduced in stanza one, and stanza four fully explains what stanza three subtly suggests.
– Since the subject matter is childhood, I chose to give the poem both meter and rhyme; however, there are other poetic elements in the poem. I encourage you to read the poem again for conceptual links, alliteration, subtle rhyme, and double meaning. Several entire lines could be taken two different ways. For example, “Three pairs of eyes give joyful sight,” could refer to the joyful way that our girls perceive the world or to the joyful way that my wife and I look into their eyes.
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