Summerlife
Early the first pale light of this solstitial dawn
Creeps with cat paw stealth across the dewy lawn
Creates a gilt edged line of daybreak
Far in the eastern fields
As darkness of eternal space now yields
Mastery over sky and sea and earth.
And I have seen the summer come to birth.
The morning stretches endless as the sky
Above the shimmering prairie, wind-baked dry
The brilliant vernal sun scorches, burns the eye
And all of young and tender life must lie
Beneath the sheltering flora, lest it die.
Of movement, soul and spirit there is only I
Alone amid the early morning world
And empty sky.
Now the majestic orb stands high above the distant pole
While mid day’s madcap energy excites the soul
The spirit that has known but itself now seeks a mate
As day moves on the soul seeks to relate
Its rich evidence of life, the day's events
And share the time as one
Together in the sun
Before the long descent.
Languid as the winding of an aimless stream
The shadows move and lengthen slowly as a dream
The glory of the noon, its power heat and light
Spread wider, filling all of life with energy and might
And vigorous the spirit opens to the strongest part of day
Flower like all expression blooms and finds a way
Each plan and hope and dream is reached
And joy is shared for all that is achieved.
The earth, the sky, the spirit, and the life
All are omnipotent, eternal as the day
Before the sun begins to fade away.
The gentle evening lingers cool and clean
Accented in vivid hues, verdant, deep and green
Of whispering elm and oak and poplar screen
Mature and supple strength: all would seem
As if to last forever.
The moments now are shared in harmony
And all of life moves on in symphony
Experience and friendship are the strengths of eve
The last and truest gifts of life
Before the day must take its final leave.
The day is spent, the dark returns again
To cast its rule across the world of men
The night sits heavy over the terrestrial whole
Though not upon the gentle mellow souls
Who knew this day.
For life itself has given of its best
All that is good comes finally to rest
The day is spent, our life together done
The spirit sets with the last rays of sun.
The light is spent
Night darkness cloaks the earth in a shroud
Beneath which we see but forms and shapes and stars
And shadows fill the empty spaces
Which by daylight all were our theatres of life.
In the empty void of night
The soul disconnects from all––
The hurried harried bustle of the day,
The sweet and mellow fellowship of eve,
Surrounded once with ways and means and ends
Energy, activity, and friends--
It's cloaked in darkness now.
Again as at the dawning, there is only I
Alone amid the endless circle of our life
And empty sky.