The End of the Day

by Leonard Nolt

Let the day end
Let the shadows lengthen
Let the birds sing their last songs
As the wind slows
As swallows head for their hidden beds

The owl blinks twice
And stretches its wings
The mouse scurries to its hole
Our strained muscles beg for rest

Let it be known that the beauty of a single day
Is not just in its beginning, but also in its ending.

Let the weary ones be allowed to rest
Let exhausted children, youth, and adults go to sleep
Their bellies full and their bodies safe
Let the nightmares of the past be gone and forgotten

Let the sun darken as it slips below the window sill of the horizon
Let us all be blessed with the gift of forgetting
Let us all be blessed with the gift of remembering
Let us all be blessed with the gift of expecting a new day, but for now,
Let the day end.


Leonard Nolt is using retirement to arrange and rearrange words.


Photography by Kenneth Godoy

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