Rachel Beachy
All the Small Things
“It is no surprise that danger and suffering surround us. What astonishes is the singing.” – Jack Gilbert
In the long night, the night spent longing
for rest – when rest is a thing that must be
bargained for, prayed over, in these times when
goodness comes as a surprise – I am so tired
of being surprised by goodness,
by the ways we are all the same.
Didn’t I used to kneel in the dirt
and save the small stones? The earth-
worms in the driveway after a rainstorm?
The line between us seemed as thin as a crack
of lightning. Of dawn. So it is:
the robins start their chorus in the
dark. At the breakfast table, my children are
showing me how low their voices can be
and how high. Listen. They go
up and up and up.
Rachel Beachy is the author of Tiny Universe. Her poetry has also appeared in Have Has Had, Does It Have Pockets, Mulberry Literary, ONE ART, Rust & Moth, Sky Island Journal, Thread, and others. She was nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology 2025 and shortlisted for the Central Avenue Poetry Prize 2026. She lives in Kentucky with her husband and children. You can find her on Instagram @rachelbeachywrites.