The Sun Also Rises
You lay still on the high branch,
eyes wide and staring into the cold night.
The moon hangs low in the ebony sky,
a silver orb that stares you down.
And I think I know what you are looking for
as you gaze into that endless dark.
But please, I beg you, though you pay me no heed,
do not look into the bitter night --
watching its cold grasp tighten on the world,
exciting fear in the hearts of men --
and try to find yourself in its depths.
I know you believe you are alike to the night,
a frigid, cruel, bitter being.
But I beg you, please, do not glare at the stars,
expecting to find your own soul glaring back
from the black oblivion that smothers the light.
You are not an emmisary from the bitter night,
you are not like that dark that kills all hope.
You are not the night, because in you the sun also rises.
I gaze into your eyes as they stare me down,
and I watch the glorious sun shine from their depths --
a sunrise of rose and violet and sea green and azure blue,
awash in the golden brilliance of your perfect eyes.
Please, I am begging you, look inward and find your soul,
and realize that you are the light.
The day that gives warmth to life -- that gives me strength.
The sun that lights the path I know I should follow;
my guide and my protector.
I beg you from the depths of my heart, listen.
You are gentle like the first rays of dawn,
you are vibrant as the ecstatic sunset,
more passionate than a million midnight stars.
You are not dark, you are pure illumination.
You lay there on your high branch,
beyond my reach and my understanding,
and you are the light that sweeps across my barren soul.
And as your golden eyes stare out into the dark,
and fear what they will find in the endless skies,
I watch your silver form against the paling sky grow stark
and the sun rises beyond you, meeting with love, your sublime eyes.
Author's Note:
I love this one so much! Sounds like I'm blowing my own trumpet, but oh well. I think this one turned out pretty good. What do you think? Let me. I know the title of the poem may make some people think it's a tribute to Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises, but I thought of the title before I remembered there was a book by that name, and by the time I did remember, I liked the title too much to drop it and pick a new one.