Shadows of a Dream
(I wrote this for a project when I was in high school).
In the first light of day,
Morning hues of red and gray.
By the morning light I see
Blades of grass are not quite green.
The sky becomes more blue in colour,
As the minutes turn to hours.
The world wakes up with a sleepy eye,
As midnight creatures go and hide.
Birds are singing merrily,
Squirrels are chattering busily.
Deer and fox are on the run,
But the day has just begun.
Bumbling bees go from flower to flower,
The time still passes, hour by hour.
Darker does the sky become,
Clouds threaten of rain to come.
A distant rumble, a thunder clash,
All the creatures make a dash.
Under rocks and in tree boughs,
Creatures’ comfort these things allow.
Wind howls through the branches,
Raindrops gather in the trenches.
Leaves whip around the tree trunks,
A large branch scares a skunk.
Lighting splits a tree in half,
You can almost hear the thunder laugh.
Lightning lights the sky like a white firs,
You can almost feel its desire
To burn, to sear,
To strike, to tear.
Its electrifying hand cuts through the air,
It makes me tingle, it makes me stare.
The lightning fire flickers, and dies.
The roaring thunder now distant sighs.
The rain lets up, the sun shines through,
The birds are playing peek-a-boo.
A doe leads her fawn into the meadow,
A mouse, afraid of its own shadow.
The light is dimming to the west.
The sunset colours are the best:
The red, the orange, the gold, the blue,
Some greens, some pinks, some purples too.
The sky then goes dark.
A star peeks through, like a spark.
More stars come out to celebrate the night,
An owl flies by, its feathers pure white.
The sight of fireflies and the sound of crickets fill the air.
I sit still, watch, and listen with care.
Nature has such harmony,
It’s like hearing a symphony.
A frog sits low to the ground,
It jumps three lily pads in one bound.
The night air smells of pine trees,
I feel like I’m in a dream.
A mist rises up around me,
Surrounding me.
I close my eyes, and lay back my head,
When I open my eyes, I’m back in my bed.
© 1996 by K. Nolan