Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Morning, Noon and Night

MORNING


Wrapped deeply in the cloaks of night

The land in silence sleeps.


The sun stirs!


On the horizon a thread of light appears

Then a pale azure glow that diffuses and nears

The vanguard of the sun in the eastern sky

Driving before it the forces of darkness

Diminishing the territory of dark’s heavenly fastness

Herding the night into the west to fade and die.

Awake thou, O Sun!


And with an explosion of light the sun leaps forth

Awakening from its slumbers in the east

Streaking shafts of sunbeams pierce the expanse aloft

The last dregs of night flee and cease to exist

A golden glow pervades the brightening skies

Hail! The armies of the sun!

The moon retreats to bed and sighs:

“Another night’s job done.”


Ah morning

The lusty crow of the cockerel, another day of life

The curse of the sluggard, who still desires his bed

The joy of the hardworking, who charges in the day

The beginning of twelve hours while light will stay

Ah, rejoice in then mellowness of morn

For the coming noon releases the powers of hell,

But that’s for another time to tell.


NOON


Noon

Hell on Earth

Enter the dragon with flaming wings above

It peaks its arc and pauses

To fill the atmosphere with scorching breath

In self-defense every fragile flower closes

While their great lord above unfolds his petals

Embracing the land in a fiery wreath


Past is the mellow sun of morn

The once golden glow now gone

Why is Grandfather Sun always furious

Only six hours after he wakens?

Why waxes then his burning powers

And why every noon his anger burns?


Darts of death and damnation doth he hurl

Caring not beast, flower or land

He caresses and kisses with fire

Regardeth he the earth foe or friend?

Cracks and fissures open unnumbered

The mouths of the thirsty soil

Begging for water, but seem unheeded

The midday tyrant doth even cloudwater boil

But he listens, moisture he would beget

Mercilessly baking toiling man

Till rivulets flow, of glistening sweat

To water the parched rocks and sand


A murderer the noon sun, fierce and cruel

Causes sorrow, makes families bereft

Run and hide before him, and tremble

For who can withstand his rays of death?

EVENING: A PRELUDE TO NIGHT


The cicadas and mynahs are calling

Prophesying the downfall of the sun

Ha! Look! Indeed he is falling

His reign is over, his rule done.

The sun dies

Shadows rise

From the eastern skies.

Closing are the sunflowers’ eyes.

And desperately the sun, now sinking

Before reclining into his western coffin,

Colours the sky, hues of purple, orange and red. Fiery

and beautiful his swansong, he exits in a blaze of glory

Does he hope that thus doing

People will remember him?

Short its life, but stunning

the incomparable beauty of evening.


NIGHT

Suddenly comes Night.

She unfolds her sable cloak from on high

Blankets the land, puts out all light

Darkness stretches from sky to sky

Terrible shadows come

Foes and fears awake

Sober is he that flees for home

He that doth not, night will overtake


But kind is the moon

Kindly gives she forth her silver glow

Dissipating impenetrable darkness

Relieving fear, for some none too soon

She paints silver the clouds above and earth below

And the radiance of her silvery sheen on the waters

Gives a misty floating sensation

As if dreamily in paradise wandering


The sky, no longer black, is brilliant

With moonbeams, breathtakingly lucent

The quietude of night knows no measure

The solitude of the old leafless oak tree

The night is still, the wind does not stir

And little fireflies flit about playing hide-and-seek, unfettered and carefree

The nightingale’s serenade swells over the silence

Punctuated by the silence of hunting owls and monotonous chant of frogs

The surrounding wildlife the audience:

Fish, mice, otters, reeds, toadstools on logs

Mirror-like the pond now is

In the middle a fat yellow piece of cheese


How peaceful the night, how idyllic

The intense silence deafens

Stars ebb and flow across the heavens

The lone wolf skyward cries

Lady moon soothes and lullabies

And makes the earth forget

The tortures of day

The tyranny of the sun

Behold the serene sight

And tranquil moment

The night has but begun.

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