The Bright Field, by R. S. Thomas

Lent, Day 1

I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the pearl
of great price, the one field that had
the treasure in it. I realize now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying

on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.

Went, with my sister, looking for a "bright field". Didn't find one, but ended up in Curdworth Parish Church, where this window made me reflect on what would have happened if Mary, when the brightness shone on her for that seemingly transitory moment, had not turned aside and paid attention to what was happening right then...