Ode to the Day
"And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn.”. Mahatma Gandhi.
I.
Up the hill, the view’s glaringly divine
Snow-covered peaks jutting up the blue sky
Heaven and earth merging in the skyline
Up high, wispy cirrhus clouds mystify
The aerial scene unfolding at sunset
As pine trees sway, a lilting lullaby
The sun’s golden rays create a vignette
As they touch the plane of the blue green lake
The rays echoed by each tiny wavelet
Translucent, opalescent, near opaque
The haze radiates a mystical feeling
Wonder and awe that within us awake!
Behind the snowy peaks the sun setting
Coloring the skies beyond forgetting!
II.
The evening breeze grows stronger and colder
As incipient darkness cloaks the earth
Night shadows make fearful the beholder
Up the hill, the sound of innocent mirth
As young lovers gaze at the silv’ry moon
High in the sky, halfway from last rebirth
Moonbeams reflect in the serene lagoon
And in the snowcapped peaks in the distance
As crickets chirping made the lovers swoon
Trees swayed in the breeze in a rhythmic dance
Leaves rustled drowning their cozy whispers
Just a kiss apart, oh what sweet romance!
While a billion stars shine, his hand in hers
As under the cloudless skies, his heart stirs!
III.
Calm the night, as the witching hours approach
But forest creatures venture not outside
For stealthy night hunters ready to poach
The moon embarrassed behind the clouds hide
Joined by all the stars, the sky now raven
But critters in their nests they’re satisfied
The warmth vanished soon after eleven
And dew condensed on leaves and blades of grass
No one astir in the forested glen
Night terrors if there be, surely shall pass
From the east a gleam of light, dawn soon breaks
The sun shall rise from the amorphous mass
All creatures grateful, as the world awakes
To a day free of yesterday’s mistakes!
IV.
Witness the fiery birth of a new day
Warm nurturing rays of the morning sun
Vaporizing last evening’s dew away
The low-lying mist by mid-morning gone
Snowcaps glisten in the faraway hills
Reflecting the sun’s light since crack of dawn
Cool air fragrant– roses and daffodils
Clear the senses, to watch nature’s wonder
Refresh the mind away from last night’s chills
But as the sun climbs o’er the clouds yonder
Close to the zenith, its rays torch the air
Too much a good thing, something to ponder
At noon the sun rules the skies, none can stare
Lest blinded they’d be by its brutal glare!
V.
Mid-afternoon clouds moved in from the east
Welcome reprieve from the sun’s blazing beams
But the wind brought stultifying mist
As dark nimbus drifted riding jet streams
Primed to unleash storms, gray and foreboding
As blackbirds chatter to no end it seems
Murmurations suddenly exploding
Sweeping across the dark rain-laden skies
Aerial artists utterly breathtaking
Rain fell hard, creatures looked with weary eyes
Before dusk the earth cloaked in night shadows
Sleep awaits, Hypnos chanting lullabies
No painted skies to watch from the meadows
Just life-sustaining rain for all that grows...
© Vic Evora 07-14-2020
A day is approximately the period of time during which the Earth completes one rotation around its axis. A solar day is the length of time which elapses between the Sun reaching its highest point in the sky two consecutive times.
But each day is unique, no two days are ever alike. We have rainy days as well as sunny days, happy and sad days, lazy days, busy days, eventful days as well as the blahs.
This poem describes the passing of a 24-hour day. It begins with a beautiful sunset, the beginning of nightfall - and goes through the hours into another nightfall but very different from the other previous one.
The poem is written in “terza rima”, five 14-line stanzas each having a ABA BCB CDC DED EE rhyming pattern. Each line is in iambic pentameter.
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