Another from my latest book. Question: do the animals of the night see colour, or only shades of grey?
The Shades of Night
As evening drops its dark’ning blanket
Over forest seas,
And filters out the colours of the day,
The greens and golds of countless trees
Are, for a moment, memories
As all around us turns to shades of grey.
The silhouettes of long dead gum trees,
Raise their branches high
Like ghostly spectres rising from the ground,
While echoing across the sky,
The curlew sends its lonely cry
To match this eerie sight with mournful sound.
And waking in the trees above,
The creatures of the night
Explore their leafy wonderland anew.
For in this realm devoid of light,
They have no fear, their eyes are bright,
Their coats are damp from freshly fallen dew.
There is no colour in their world,
But only shades of grey.
For colour needs the rays of golden sun.
And as the blackness fades to grey,
Before the light of coming day,
They sleep before the new day has begun.
Unpardon me but I relent it boldly;
For it is far ahead, if I can be sure of it,
And far it is, that my hallucination be valid,
And hallucination it is, as it should be,
And however, unlike itself, mysterious, unknown, and untested,
So it be foreseen in my tireless search.
Explore the mystery of how nature makes unexpected gifts of creative wonders to an unsuspecting caregiver one late night and early morning in southeastern Georgia, USA.
A book of nature inspired poems and essays, written from the heart and soul of a life-long nature, animal, and wilderness lover, and dedicated to today’s children - Earth's only hope for a better tomorrow.
This book won 'The Poetry Category'
Share
Print
Save
Follow
For it is far ahead, if I can be sure of it,
And far it is, that my hallucination be valid,
And hallucination it is, as it should be,
And however, unlike itself, mysterious, unknown, and untested,
So it be foreseen in my tireless search.
Be safe,
Karen