exSOLtation – Alleluia

Dawn creeps slowly in
unseen birds sing in rippling trills,
water splashes pitter puddle
upon a shallow stone.

Sky is black, then a pale horizon
emerging into tints of yellow, mauve, and blue;
a watercolour of sun and sea reflects in the sky.

Songbirds whistle chirp a fluting, soaring orchestra of sound;
an overture to day.

Flowers open to the light, petals damp with dew;
leaves sway to the rhythm of the breeze.

Nighttime peace yawns and prepares to sleep away the day.

Noon sun rises like a temple gong
harsh then dulcet;
reverberating waves of heat.

Fish bubble and plop, catching the light with their midday meal.

Playing children giggle, shriek, and run
chase and tag; bats crack on flying balls;
bicycle tyres turn and whoosh against opposing winds.

Sky cerulean bright against a fleet of fleece-white sailing clouds;
trees rustle, hiding thieving squirrels and warbling songbirds.

Drowsy-eyed against the light, Day basks in the sun.

Later, Day starts its journey towards the Night;
sky and sea both flat and darkened blue.

Swallow flit and dart, circle swoop;
hunting their buzzing dinner feast.

Sun swells, descending in a brassy, blazing fanfare
of orange, red, and gold.

Robins whistle the evening in;
russet breast aburst with joy and pride, in rousing finale.

Crescendoes, as day’s purple-streaked curtain, draws closed.

Day is done
moonlight blankets the land, stippling the trees in silver.

Reflected orbs in sea and stream polka dot the darkness.

Whippoorwills flute a descant to the owls.

Midnight shrouded trees shrug their leafy branches;
redistributing the nestled birds their heads under feathered wings.

The world is in silhouette,
colourless against a darker background of blue-black.
Only eyes are visible, nocturnal gold and green matching their eerie light against the moon and stars.

Day snuggles down in the blessed dark and sleeps away the night.

Ronda R. Scott-Marak

© 19 June 1992