-- As Night Awakens --

John Herlihy

In flaming twilight, the night awakens.

Soon the blanket of night will cover the land.

The hush of dusk gives way to the silence of night.

The turning of the earth never misses a beat.

The moon climbs wearily over the lip of the horizon,

Shining its pale, useless light over leaf and grass.

Then midnight happens with no turning back.

In the heart of the hour lies the death of night.

The little death, as they say, for day shall return,

The promise of the night to linger, but not last.

The stars too seem to wander, in far distant lands,

Ten billion acres of sky clear to the neverlands.

The earth’s day waiting to be remembered,

Earth’s shadow creeps unto dawn as night sleeps.

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(c) John Herlihy 29 November 2019