End of Hot Day
written by: Mark Scrivener
@orpheus777
Midsummer Georgica NSW
End of hot day. Fierce sun has vanished now.
Yet still bright twilight lights west-lying cloud-
Forms spreading yellow-greying in pale vastness.
Are they the heralds of new rain in darkness?
A final butterfly of day flits by,
Above the seed-tipped grasses, summer-high.
Black crows flap towards the heights of night-safe trees,
Soft-rustling topmost leaves in slightest breeze.
Now eastern hills are briefly tinged with gold-
The Midas touch of day’s last-passing role.
Above them crescent moon is growing bright
In sky that’s fading towards the rise of night.
The heat is falling and the world’s inclined
To pass into the shadow side of time
Where stars will show the darker, cooling hours,
Bring some retreat from blaze of solar power.
And in the cooling darkening of sight,
I ponder in the passing to the night
How storms and rains have saved the summer here
From drought’s despair and greater fire-fear.
How long will fortune’s blessing last? How long?
I hear of terror, fire-born, beyond
The scant horizon of my turning days-
Devouring, roaring flames, the deadly blaze.
I hear of fiercer storms with fury from
The trapping of the energy from sun;
As change, without a harbour or a haven,
Becomes our sadness like a war from heaven.
End of hot day. Fierce sun has vanished now.
Yet still bright twilight lights west-lying cloud-
Forms spreading yellow-greying in pale vastness.
Are they the heralds of new rain in darkness?
A final butterfly of day flits by,
Above the seed-tipped grasses, summer-high.
Black crows flap towards the heights of night-safe trees,
Soft-rustling topmost leaves in slightest breeze.
Now eastern hills are briefly tinged with gold-
The Midas touch of day’s last-passing role.
Above them crescent moon is growing bright
In sky that’s fading towards the rise of night.
The heat is falling and the world’s inclined
To pass into the shadow side of time
Where stars will show the darker, cooling hours,
Bring some retreat from blaze of solar power.
And in the cooling darkening of sight,
I ponder in the passing to the night
How storms and rains have saved the summer here
From drought’s despair and greater fire-fear.
How long will fortune’s blessing last? How long?
I hear of terror, fire-born, beyond
The scant horizon of my turning days-
Devouring, roaring flames, the deadly blaze.
I hear of fiercer storms with fury from
The trapping of the energy from sun;
As change, without a harbour or a haven,
Becomes our sadness like a war from heaven.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
Lyric from Midsummer with reflections on climate change.
Born many decades ago in Sydney, I have had many poems published in magazines and newspapers over the years and a few verse plays performed. I have also had verse riddles and brainteasers published in papers on a regular basis for over a decade.
- Rainforest Song - August 5, 2019
- To A Vanished Globe - March 22, 2019
- The Cloud - May 14, 2018
