-- When the Day Begins --

John Herlihy

The question arises when the day begins,

In this glorious world we find we live in.

When the clock strikes the midnight hour,

At the peak of night’s nocturnal power.

When all the nesting birds have awoken,

As the songbirds have melodically spoken.

When strutting roosters in the farmyard crow,

As the North Wind begins quietly to blow.

When I awaken and speak aloud my first word,

When the first whisper of the wind chime heard,

When the conscious mind awakens from sleep,

When the light of the sun our earth will greet.

Does day ride upon the crest of ocean waves,

Bringing the much needed light that earth saves?

Does the day ride upon the tail of the wind,

All across the world its impurities to rescind?

Jonquils awaken, nodding on stately stalks,

Flying into the day those sleek, black hawks.

Rouse those mammoth mountains from slumber,

Listen to bird wings flying in countless number.

In faithfully rising, dawn mimics the first day,

First rising over the horizon, first word to say.

Emerging seconds to the minute, light upon light,

The first day to banish forever the eternal night.

Once arrived, the day on the move, never still

As the surge of a mighty river, free flowing at will.

In the passing of the hours, the day to be filled,

Until night settles upon us as the day be stilled.

- - - - - -

Copyright © John Herlihy

Wednesday 4 Ja­­­nuary 2023