The First Day
By John Herlihy

The first day was neither first, nor a day;
The light of the sun was forever in God’s pay.
First day wondered what happened, now come to light;
Dawn simply emerged, giving the world’s eyes its sight.
Unique and pure, out of the cocoon of darkness born,
The cloak of luminescence glows, the universe to adorn.

The first dawn shattered the black plate of night,
Casting multiple shadows off the emerging light.
The first day crisp, cold and perfectly clear;
Night finally forsaken as the day draws near.
The eternal depths snapped like a broken twig;
Sunbeams on the horizon began to dance a jig.

Leaves on trees rustled as nature gathered voice,
Awaiting the forces of the wind to fully rejoice.
Winter frost painted designs as intricate as lace;
Grasses sang with wind across the landscape’s face.
Clouds roamed idly overhead in search of discovery;
Shadows crept below seeking a chance of thuggery.

Another first day, another divine gift, forever at play,
Again, the face of God speaks with miracles to say.
The first breath with the white of winter chill,
The first sigh that into the future continues still.
Organ peals of living breath float across the bay;
Migratory birds singing a dirge amid harvest hay.

Throaty notes of the loon as wind blowing from caves;
Soulful echoes roll across an ocean of sky in waves.
The first dawn of the day rises up amid corn husk;
The first twilight descends with the smell of musk.
A new covenant of Spirit that never happened before;
Eternal dark now banished amid the night fiend’s roar.

As I awoke this morning, I felt calm, curious, wise;
I glanced out the window to see the first day arise.