Darkness in the Morning
By John Herlihy

Darkness gives way to morning,
That’s what we have been told anyway.
The heavens folds itself back layer by layer,
Like the fading whispers of a dying prayer.
When we crawl back over the horizon of sleep,
We don’t want to have darkness in the morning to keep.
Yet, upon awakening, I am confronted with regret.
Didn’t I fall asleep last night hoping to forget?
All night we roam through the vastness of oblivion,
From north to south to explore the earthly meridian.
We pass through a layer of darkness so deep,
We hardly recognize it for what it is as sleep.
The little death in which we don’t really die,
We just get a taste of it curiously on the sly.
When I awaken in the morning my life to reap,
The morning itself just throws us on the heap.
Life has a way of appearing listless and cheap,
Until we land with a bounce on the balls of our feet.
Not a day goes by when morning doesn’t come our way;
Whether to bring darkness or light, only the future can say.