Sunday, December 14, 2008

Praying the hours - Night


Day and Dusk, proud of their achievements, sing in muffled harmony to the night
"The hours were not wasted!"
Night chortles back - "whatever...."

Night is pleased to have mortal alone at last
Patient and allowing the slow measured avoidance of stillness to recede
Darkness allows the stirrings of insomnia to wrestle with their master
In the struggle, night inserts its power and coaxes the mortal into surrender and sleep

Dark knows there is much to be gained in the stillness
The stillness of slow breathing and pleasant dreams
Night knows the darkness feeds the mind and body
And working gently, methodically, prepares the sleeping corpse for dawn and eternity

Photo - SS - night in Maui

4 comments:

  1. i absolutely love night's response to day & dusk..i chortled myself when i read the "whatever". i never realized night/dark could act like such a teenager!

    the beginning is quite a strong contrast to the end which speaks so strongly to the power of the dark!

    one last thing--i think that poetry study you did during lent is catching up with you! great stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I definitely loved the poetry sessions. The strong contrast - those first few lines probably shouldn't have made the cut, but I had too hard a time giving them up:)

    Thanks for your encouragement.

    xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10:33 AM

    SS, this is so stunning, I love "Patient and allowing the slow measured avoidance of stillness to recede" and the very last line especially. And of course I adored Night's teenage whims. So lovely to read other praises of my favorite hour.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Abbey - thank you for the patience and coaxing to allow me to write these words for others to read.

    I've learned alot about "your" favorite hour these past two weeks.

    ReplyDelete