Darkness Descending March 27, 2011
Posted by nrhatch in Mindfulness, Nature, Poetry, Word Play.trackback
Forlorn foghorn cries
Fish splash, breaking the surface
Crickets harmonize
Darkness descending
Objects become shadows
Day fades away
A lone osprey soars
Accompanied by music
My ears cannot hear
Darkness descending
Pulling us under its cloak
Blocking the twilight
Gulls soar through the sky
Framed against the sun
Skimming o’er the waves
Darkness descending
Embracing sun’s last rays
Another day ends
The sun greets the sea
Twilight surrenders
Time slows for no man
Moment by moment
Day makes way for night
There’s no turning back
Darkness descending
Like the final curtain
After an encore
Omnipresent stars
Twinkling in the blackened sky
Silently observe
Aah . . . that’s better!
“You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
Related posts: Weekend Theme ~ Star * Seeing Stars (The Only Cin) * Evening Star (Adeeyoyo’s Blog) * A Star and I (View From The Side) * The Dance (Library Scene) * Thanksgiving (PTC) * Stars In Their Eyes (Tilly Bud) * Star Chamber (Kate) * Star (PTC) * What is Love (Library Scene)
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Spirit Lights The Way 
Darkness descending Like the final Curtain After an encore. Whether it’s poetry or prose creative similes and metaphors make a worthwhile read. I keep them on 3×5 cards was I read and come across them throughout the day. My own 19th Century memory chips.
Excellent idea, Carl. That’s my favorite line in this poem. 🙂
“Time slows for no man” – my favorite line. 🙂
That’s borrowed from a very popular phrase in music and literature:
Time and tides wait for no man.
I had always assumed it was a Chaucer quote, but on looking further, this is what I came up with, although I think Chaucer did use it.
Origin
The origin is uncertain, although it’s clear that the phrase is ancient and that it predates modern English. The earliest known record is from St. Marher, 1225:
“And te tide and te time þat tu iboren were, schal beon iblescet.”
A version in modern English – “the tide abides for, tarrieth for no man, stays no man, tide nor time tarrieth no man” evolved into the present day version.
I also found some historical “conjecture” that said “the tyde” in its earliest usage referred to time (like “Yuletide”) not to the tides.
It’s earliest usage may remain shrouded in mist.
Lovely, Nancy! Thank you.
Each evening, day exits Stage Left. 🙂
And enters to my applause every morning, Stage Right!
Do you greet the dawn every day? Wow! I do on occasion. Especially if I’m on the east coast from Maine to Florida.
Most days – especially now that it is the dreaded DST! But I don’t go outside to see it every day – just occasionally. it always stirs me to write. Of course I love sunset too, and I much more frequently go outside to view it. Most of my photographs of it have been unsatisfactory, although I recently posted one I like.
Here’s a set of new lyrics I wrote for “Morning Has Broken” :
Night All Around Me
by Paula Tohline Calhoun
©2009 (posted on FB at 6 a.m. on 7/22/09 – it had been another long night, so I went outside and tried to make the best of it!)
Night all around me
Stars in the heavens
Fireflies are twinkling
Seeking their love.
Praise for the darkness
Praise for the shining
Guiding my footsteps
Light from above.
Crickets are singing
Night-birds are watching
Sounds of creation
Enfolding, serene.
Praise for the singing
Praise for the creatures
Hidden yet moving
Wonders unseen.
Mine is the darkness
Mine be the daybreak
Rising around me
Bringing its light.
Yet praise the Creator
For times spent revealing
To those who would seek them
The blessings of night.
PTC 7/22/09
Cheers, Nancy! And here’s to lots more sunsets and sunrises for all of us. 😀
Nice poem! I’d love to hear Cat Stevens singing it. 😀
It is true that time stops for no man.
The tides ebb and flow . . . time keeps flowing.
Fantastic photos to accompany the fine words. 🙂
Thanks, Pseu.
The first two “captured” one of the first sunsets we enjoyed on AMI. The last is borrowed because my camera is afraid of the dark.
Spell-binding!Great writing.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed. 😀
This is beautiful, Nancy. Daylight to darkness, step by unrelenting step…
Thanks, Adee. I love watching the approach of night with deepening shadows in twilight’s last gleaming.
There’s a real feeling for nature in this poem.
I am most at home when out and about . . . as long as there are no snakes in sight. 🙂
Lovely, Nancy!
Thanks, Cin!
Very calming and serene, Nancy. What is the story behind the last photo?
I don’t know the story . . . I borrowed it. 🙂
For this post:
https://nrhatch.wordpress.com/2010/12/12/dark-clouds/
Thank you Nancy!
The photos provided the perfect balance for the harmony of the words…serene, calming, inspiring.
They filled me with peace. 🙂
Excellent. Sunrises (when I see them) fill me with hope and sunsets fill me with peace.
I like the part about the crickets harmonizing. We had one on the porch the other night and the cat was looking for it in the crack of a brick. It would stop as Miss Kitty got near then start singing again when she backed off. They are so neat. You painted a beautiful picture with your words.
Thanks, Linda. I love listening to crickets on summer evenings.
Wonderful evocative poem, Nancy, and the pictures are so beautiful.
About Nietzsche: I qualify 🙂 No sign of that dancing star though.
I disagree. Who but a dancing star could create the posts you do?
You are a poet, Nancy. What lovely verses! I enjoyed reading your poem and read it three times. Beautiful! Blessings to you…
Thanks, Carol Ann. 😀
I enjoy playing with words and sometimes short poems capture the essence better than prose.
the photos set this so nicely…lovely piece
(as an aside, dig the Nietzche quote (I’m on a philosophy kick))
Glad you enjoyed, including the quote. Nietzche had some wonderful thoughts.
Beautiful poem, Nancy!!
Thanks, Rosa
The painting I chose today was partly inspired by your poem! I linked to your blog from mine and hope that many more people will get to enjoy your poem…
Thanks! I love linking up related posts. We’re about to eat, but I’ll check it out in short order.
I love how the photos mirror the words in the poem … they help paint the feelings behind the meaning. Thank you for sharing 😉
Thanks, Shannon. Poems with photos appeal to me for the same reason.
that was lovely. made me want to be there
Thanks, Sidey. I strayed a bit far from the theme this week ~ from star to sunset. 🙂
[…] Nancy […]
After the darkness comes the light… I’m reaching for light; at least today. TY! 🙂
Eliz
Start each day anew, buoyed by hope and gratitude.
Lovely Nancy. I hate to say goodnight to a perfectly good day but I love the transition from a perfect day to a beautiful star-filled evening. Your poem expresses it so well.
Thanks, Jeanne. Watching the sun descend o’er the sand and sea lets me easily access the peace within. The stars watch us shine.
I really enjoyed the pictures and lovely poem. I had to chuckle at your response above about borrowing the last picture because your camera is afraid of the dark – mine is too! There isn’t a setting on that silly thing that will allow me to take a decent night picture.
Thanks, Janna. The other key component is that I rarely think to take photos once night has fallen.
I should try to capture the next full moon . . . framed by a palm tree.
I loved this verse:
Moment by moment
Day makes way for night
There’s no turning back
To me, it’s a reminder that everything moves forward in our world…day makes way for night, life makes way for death, and death makes way for life, forest fires make way for new growth. I could go on and on – every cloud has a silver lining, but there’s no stopping the cloud.
No matter what happens, it’s a continuation of life in some form or another.
That’s comforting.
Thanks, Sandra. I’m glad you find it comforting. I do too.
If we had a choice of going forward, standing still, or turning back, we would often make the WRONG choice.
No matter how hard we try to hang on to the past, it is eventually pried from our grasp. That keeps us from stagnating.
THIS IS SO AWESOME!
so metal! ~ try reading it to this song:
!
I really enjoy your work and the quotes you share! Very thought provoking.
Thanks, gnarlyoak. Glad you enjoyed.