Darkness proceeds, gathering
strength, chasing the cotton cloth
of light as it, in turn, diminishes,
a few vestiges still scattered
on the placid surface of water,
when,
right before a final triumph,
a crew of nine sculls its way,
silently slicing the surface.
Growing darkness and fading light
pause momentarily; the fate
of the emerging stars is suddenly
in doubt.
Light briefly considers mounting
a counterattack before deciding
a strategic retreat, knowing its time
is coming again.
The editors of Tweetspeak Poetry are hosting a 30-Day, 30-Poem Challenge for Earth Month entitled, appropriately enough, Poetic Earth Month. Today, the featured poem is an excerpt from the poem “Trouble in Paradise” by Maureen Doallas, included in her collection Neruda’s Memoirs. The poetry prompt is to write a poem pointing to some kind of loss or joyous arrival of something or someone.
Photograph: Creve Coeur Lake, St. Louis County, Missouri.
