~ Delta Poetry Review ~

Terri Kirby Erickson

At the Lamp Store

To each face in the lamp store, light

is kind. There is no surgical sheen, no

harsh and unforgiving glare. There is

only a soft glow filtered through every

sort of shade—Drum, Dome, Empire,

and Bell, Square, Hexagon, Pagoda,

and Rectangle—so much light landing

on every surface, yet gentle, muted,

a watercolor world without a sharp

edge in sight. It is the same light we

often shine on the past, a perfect place

where everyone is beautiful and good,

including ourselves. Here, at the lamp

store, even the salespeople look happy.

One sits by the front desk, holding her

little dog. Another drifts from room to

lamplit room, the tails of her blue scarf

fluttering like breeze-blown flags. And

when we find the lamp we want—with

a fluted shade, painted birds and butter-

flies on its porcelain base and finial—

they seem as delighted with our choice

as we are, picturing a once-dark space

transformed by its soft, welcoming light.

Terri Kirby Erickson, a North Carolina native, is the author of seven collections of poetry, including Night Talks: New & Selected Poems (Press 53, 2023). Her work has appeared in American Life in Poetry, Asheville Poetry Review, Atlanta Review, JAMA, Poet’s Market, Sport Literate, storySouth, The SUN, The Writer’s Almanac, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Verse Daily, and many more. Among her numerous awards are the Joy Harjo Poetry Prize and a Nautilus Silver Book Award.