It Was Evening All Afternoon
The air felt like sullen grief and the earth
ideal for grave digging. No birds whistled
or chattered in the autumn fields grown brown
and slimy under sunless skies. No, no song
cheered from heaven’s gate. We hid downstairs
to stream invisibly into our flat screen
some inane violence our entertainment
authorities had prepared for us. Alas,
we couldn’t escape a dank dread that the world
was weeping inconsolably, and all
we could think to say was sorry for your loss.
Or, absent-mindedly, have a nice day.
The birds not only stayed silent, but failed
to flit in and out of our cedar tree,
so we couldn’t count them in admiration
of life’s daily differences. Instead, we stared
at a cluster of crinkled leaves, frozen
wordlessly that some gray and brutal thing
was coming. Or that nothing ever meant
to come at all, despite the constant promises
of leading experts. O that night would fall
to just be finally night all night long.
ideal for grave digging. No birds whistled
or chattered in the autumn fields grown brown
and slimy under sunless skies. No, no song
cheered from heaven’s gate. We hid downstairs
to stream invisibly into our flat screen
some inane violence our entertainment
authorities had prepared for us. Alas,
we couldn’t escape a dank dread that the world
was weeping inconsolably, and all
we could think to say was sorry for your loss.
Or, absent-mindedly, have a nice day.
The birds not only stayed silent, but failed
to flit in and out of our cedar tree,
so we couldn’t count them in admiration
of life’s daily differences. Instead, we stared
at a cluster of crinkled leaves, frozen
wordlessly that some gray and brutal thing
was coming. Or that nothing ever meant
to come at all, despite the constant promises
of leading experts. O that night would fall
to just be finally night all night long.
