Agnes Vojta

Last Light

After a painting by Monique Belitz

Remind me how the landscape glows
at last light, how the low sun gilds
the house, paints the hills in sienna
and burnt umber. The clouds open
a portal through which we cannot pass.

Slowly vanishing, light pours
bliss over the desert. The river furrows
the plain on her long journey.
The black path snakes
down the hill to the house.

Remind me of sagebrush smell,
pine fragrance, petrichor after rain.
Long ago, I said goodbye
and have not returned
but in my dreams,

I walk in the garden. The last
leaves quiver on the branches,
the only sound in a deep silence,
as if everyone has gone away.

Finally, I find you, hidden,
on your bench, in thought or prayer.
You do not look up, and I stand
wordless. In the distance,
clouds draw dark curtains. Blue
spruce silhouette against sky.

Remind me that I can come home.

Bio
Agnes Vojta grew up in Germany and now lives in Rolla, Missouri where she teaches physics at Missouri S&T and hikes the Ozarks. She is the author of four collections of poetry. Her latest, Love Song to Gravity, was published by Stubborn Mule Press in 2025. Agnes is associate editor of Thimble Literary Magazine and host of the Poetry at the Pub reading series in Rolla. Her poems have appeared in a variety of magazines; you can read some of them on her website agnesvojta.com.