Sunset, Skaket Beach

by Rachel Becker

​I’m a stranger to myself in the photo,
holding my son so we’re level
with the camera’s lens. He & I 

face each other, hair illuminated 
like gold-leaf lettering on parchment, 
the sun a painted halo over our heads.

Our smiles are a radiant dare, 
and when the camera catches us,
we shine. I don’t recognize her,
this woman, this star of the sea. 

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Rachel Becker (she/her) is a Boston-based poet and educator. Her work appears or is forthcoming in journals including North American Review, Post Road, West Trade Review, Bracken, Rust & Moth, HAD, Consequence, Crab Orchard Review, and RHINO. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University and is a poetry editor for Porcupine Literary: A Journal for and by Teachers. She has received support from the Martha’s Vineyard Institute for Creative Writing and the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, in partnership with the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown.

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