The Wonder of Beginnings
By John Herlihy

The wonder of beginnings,
May they never fail to arrive.
Beginnings stir our hearts;
They flutter about, then fly.
A bud opens its delicate petals,
Without knowing the reason why.

A church bell before it rings,
Waiting patiently before it sings.
A musical note before it is sounded,
Still within the violin string bounded.
A soothing word before it is spoken,
With hope and promise to betoken.

The gentle breeze of fresh breath,
As ancient as the voice of the Patriarch Seth.
The primitive stillness before primordial sound,
The hush before a storm rips open the ground.
The first awakening on the first day,
Earth’s nature Heaven’s mandate to obey.

Behold, the awakening of the dawn,
As gentle and timid as a forest fawn.
The sun lifts the lid on the day’s eye,
As the creamy light invades the sky.
Even the darkness has a beginning,
The day’s eyelid closes, light diminishing.

For every beginning,
Some ending lingers in the wings,
The mystery of opposites
The reality of Its presence brings.
The flame fizzles, the light dies,
Darkness when I close my eyes.

What would we know of beginnings,
Without the finality of endings?
What would we know of the dawn,
If we never witnessed the twilight of dusk?
The end gives way to the beginning,
Beginnings ultimately find their end.

The changing of the guard,
The rhythm of opposites to safeguard.
The wonder of beginnings,
To life’s glorious fugue.
So long as they serve as prelude,
With their endings mere interlude.