-- Places of the Setting Sun --

John Herlihy

have you ever taken notice

 how the sun slips behind the mountains

like a thief wishing for the cover of night

before it ultimate descent and demise

a premature sunset casting mountain shadows

have you ever taken notice

how the sun drops to the surface of the lake

then enters the placid waters as if in ownership

before melting like soft butter in hot oil

then disappearing into the shimmering depths

have you ever taken notice

how the sun mingles with the trees of the forest

all friendly-like, as if it belonged there in the silence

the light played thru gaps as if thru stained glass

tracing arcs onto the forest floor into the blue evening

have you ever taken notice

how the sun lays its head upon the grasslands

its tender touch wispy after the long hot day

the grasses awash in fading light and growing shadows

then fall out of sight as the grasses whisper to the wind

have you ever taken notice

how the sun quietly feathers into the ghostly mist

wrapping it within the folds of its silky embrace

the day with the sun had grown old and dim

before running away awash thru the misty gates

have you ever taken notice

how the sun is swallowed into the fathoms of ocean

the cresting waves frothing in the sunset tide

the surging currents crashing on the sun’s shore

before the fiery orb surrenders to the evening’s ghost

have you ever taken notice

how the sun slunk like a raw wound into the desert sands

ever shifting, ever undulating into the copper light

the day’s shield finally burning itself out

before surrendering to the sands in s fireball

have you ever taken notice

how the sun takes its leave amid the artic glaciers

the white light of the sun casting elongated shadows

its pale light as promise over the horizon to roam

before arrives as master of the ice tundra, a midnight sun

have you ever taken notice

that the sun sets in a wide variety of places

the sunset finds each place with a character of its own

whether into the watery depths of the deepest ocean

or into the sacred cathedral towering in the forest glen

our sun nobly bids farewell as darkness invades the land

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Monday 6 December 2021