A Touch of Gold: Lucy Vincent Beach, Chilmark

A Touch of Gold

There are some winter evenings when the world hushes, and the sky writes poetry in light. I stood on the edge of the continent, wrapped in a heavy coat, breath curling like smoke, and witnessed the sun kiss the horizon with a touch of gold. I took this photo just before the light slipped away entirely, the waves whispering their timeless lullaby as the sky flared with molten color. The magic of sunsets is more than metaphor—their brilliance is born of science: during winter, the sun hangs lower in the sky, traveling a longer path through Earth's atmosphere. This scatters shorter blue wavelengths and leaves behind the longer reds, oranges, and golds. Add a layer of cold ocean mist and dense air particles, and you get this alchemy of warm light against a cool sky—like fire melting ice.

But there's more to it than optics. There's the way the sun’s angle stretches the shimmer across the ocean, gilding each wave as if the water itself had been blessed. I stood there feeling small and vast all at once, as if the sky knew my name and the ocean remembered my mother. I named the photo A Touch of Gold not just for the color, but for the grace it carried—like a benediction. In a world that often feels frayed, fractured, or fast, moments like this remind me: beauty is still being made. Quietly, faithfully, and in full color.

Poem: A Touch of Gold

The sun dipped low with quiet fire,
a hush across the winter sand—
gold unspooled like silken thread
and brushed the sea with trembling hands,
the sky a canvas lit by breath.

Each wave wore light like borrowed time,
a shimmer drawn from some old star
that traveled years to find this edge,
where ocean's pulse and twilight are
two songs in gentle counterpoint.

Cold air, salt-rich, held the day’s last heat,
and I, one witness on the shore,
could feel the cosmos settle in—
a moment stitched in something more
than science, tide, or sky alone.

The footprints I had left grew faint,
the wind already lifting me
into the stillness gold had blessed—
as if the light remembered me
and whispered: stay until it fades.

So I did—just long enough
to see the final flame descend,
to hold its grace like something rare,
and know some beauty does not end—
it only changes where it glows.

Giclée Stretched Canvas Print:Giclee print on museum quality 410gsm polycotton canvas. Stretched on 1.5 inch pine wood and back wire. Ready to hang
Acrylic Print:1/8 (3mm) thick Digital grade Acrylic with back floating Frame of 1 inch thick. Ready to hang
Brushed Metal Print:3mm Brushed Metal Print with back floating Frame of 1 inch thick. Ready to hang
HD Sublimation Metal Print:High Gloss Sublimation on Chromalux Panel with back floating Frame of 1 inch thick. Ready to hang
Giclée Rolled Canvas Print:Giclee print on museum quality 410gsm polycotton canvas
Giclée Poster Satin Photo Paper Print:Giclee print on Resin coated Satin Photo Paper 240gsm
Giclée Fine Art Matte Paper Print:Giclee print on Fine Art Matte Paper
Framed Print:Mounted with Plexiglass and Frame. Ready to hang.