This Most Perfect Night
By John Herlihy

Of all the nights that may hold us ever in thrall,
This has been the most perfect night of them all.
Across the years, I never thought it would come,
Hardships made known at night when they befall.
Adversity visits the night always added to the sum;
Sadness finds refuge in night comparable to none.

This night a miracle that has earned its wonder;
The dreams of eternal starlight and all its plunder.
At first, I see a plate of darkness as thick as night,
Not a sound to be heard, everything out of sight.
Not a hush, not a whisper, even silence in accord,
With fearsome darkness that such nights afford.

Some nights seem unendurable and never end;
Other nights pass away that time’s arrows send.
In the mystery of the night, centuries may pass;
Time loses immediacy and seems eternal, alas.
Or the hours pass quick, the night never truly lasts;
It slips thru our fingers like sand and then departs.

The moon steals darkness from the heart of night,
Dispensing rays of moon glow to soften all fright.
The blue sea is now black to reflect outer space;
Wave crests capture starlight as it falls in a race.
The stars themselves appear every night of the year.
If they never appeared, we would indeed shed a tear.

One night I hope at whose door day never arrives;
One perfect night of eternal awakening that survives.
The stars perpetuate the myth of the eternal night;
The moon forever full and never very far from sight.
This is the most perfect night I have ever known;
The one night of my life I need never to bemoan.