As we approach year's end, I ask myself the question: When does the day begin and correspondingly when does the new year begin? I know traditionally we celebrate the arrival of the new year as the bell entones midnight; but is that truly the start of the new year? In any event, Happy New Year everyone!

When the Day Begins
By John Herlihy

I
We know when silence suddenly becomes sound;
We hear a multitude of voices all around.
We know when our earth reaches the winter solstice,
The globe begins the return journey to fulfill an ancient promise.
We know when summer surrenders and winter its cold death brings;
Autumn leaves begin to fall and northern birds take wing.
We know when childhood departs and adulthood begins;
The heart draws a veil over its eyes to hide a multitude of sins.
We know when happiness takes quiet leave and sorrow takes over;
The light of our world is shadowed under a bed of four-leaf clover.

II
We know when things happen; they begin and end on time.
There is no question of origins; the source is the Sublime.
The clock ticks its monotonous beat and often sends forth a chime,
To remind people of their duty to express life in verses that rhyme.
Still, the question in good faith arises: When does the day begin?
As the earth turns, it seems that darkness and light are next of kin.
Does the day begin with the white thread of light on dawn’s horizon?
Does the day begin with the black thread of night as the world darkens?
The answer lies amid dusty creases in the parchment of ancient scripture,
That reveals an insight that shines a beam as bright as any light fixture.

III
The day begins in darkness before the coming of the light.
Judaism, Christianity and Islam begin the day with the arrival of night.
Scriptures tell humanity that first there was darkness across the deep.
Light was created purposefully in order to end the universal sleep.
And God said: Let there be light and behold there was light.
God released the brilliance of light from the universal darkness.
Genesis says God called the light Day and the darkness He called Night.
The morning was drawn from Eternal Evening to create the first Day.
Thus the enigma of the day’s beginning is resolved as the earth spins,
Solving now and forever the mystery concerning when the day begins.