Even on the Darkest Night by Michael T. Young

Even on the Darkest Night

A child makes a wish
not because he believes stars
he can’t see will grant it
but because in the garden
there’s a moonflower
that his mother let him stay up
to see bloom in the dark,
the only time it opens,
and when it blesses the world
with its perfume, a scent
his mother calls “heavenly.”

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Michael T. Young’s fourth collection, Mountain Climbing a River, will be published by Broadstone Books January 15, 2026. His third full-length collection, The Infinite Doctrine of Water, was longlisted for the Julie Suk Award. He received a Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Jean Pedrick Chapbook Award. His poetry has been featured on Verse Daily and The Writer’s Almanac. It has also appeared in numerous journals including I-70, The Journal of New Jersey Poets, Rattle, and Vox Populi.