-- Remains of a Day --

­­John Herlihy

A thousand years of days,

A day but a thousand years.

A thousand trees a trail to blaze,

A sorrow for a thousand tears.

From dawn until dusk,

From dusk until dawn.

The night smells of musk,

The day appears as a fawn.

The living day in dawn,

In a single moment eternal.

Twilight dying in dusk,

Day enters night nocturnal.

The days we remember,

The days that we forget.

One day a burning ember,

Another filled with regret.

The days of one’s lifetime,

As sand in the hourglass.

The days of roses and wine,

The days of sorrows past.

The days as blinks of an eye,

A shutter does briefly open.

On a single day never to rely,

Only life’s passing to betoken.

A day that seems far distant,

In truth, this day is near.

We look but stand resistant,

The day of judgement held dear.

The day of the accounting,

We think we can do no wrong.

A day with no renouncing,

One last time, we sing our song.

The day of religion behold,

The day of truth, beauty, bliss.

The reckoning will fully unfold,

To face the blessing or the abyss.

If a day is as a thousand years,

I will have many years to live.

Let me cast away all my fears,

Let life give me what it will give.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Monday 23 November 2020