Things Mean More at Night
By John Herlihy

In the light of day, everything cast in harsh light;
In the dark shadows, things mean more at night.
Daytime light offers little in the way of questions;
While nighttime shadows are full of suggestions.

The sun shines down upon earth with merciless rigor;
Daytime shadows make things seem so much bigger.
Mystery takes its leave in the plain light of the day;
Everything speaks clearly with their message to say.

Consider the diamond phosphorescence of a lake;
The champagne light blinds us for heaven’s sake.
Whereas at night, the glow of the moon shimmers;
Distant stars fall in the depths, their light glimmers.

Consider the mountains, valleys, lakes and streams;
Nature goes about her business and is what it seems.
No secret escapes the attention of the light of day;
Say what you will, but the dark night has its own way.

At night, our thoughts come blindly as a kind of braille;
Whereas in daytime, the mind blows like wind in sail.
We read our raw emotions by the light of the moon;
We are lifted up high aloft or cast down in a swoon.

In the light of day, whispers are only faint annoyance;
While in the dark of night, whispers have buoyance.
They speak of a longing drawn from depths of a well;
Of hopeless love, of hate and treachery that never tell.

The descending twilight marks the absence of color;
Nature’s daytime palate reduced to something other.
Black and white images take on the air of stark reality;
The contrast of light and dark marks an eerie totality.

Lonely death happens at night, things go missing, lost;
People take their leave and depart at incredible cost.
Thieves run freely in the cloak of darkness, unimpeded;
The voice of conscience falters and often goes unheeded.

Resolutions and promises take courage in the night;
The stars speak of eternity with infinitesimal light.
Consider the nighttime descent of silent winter snow;
Against the plate of darkness, awesome flakes glow.

I treasure night-time dreams over daytime reality;
Their promise restores a fine balance of normality.
Even if these dreams might not always come true ,
They fill my spirit with what the night always knew.