Longest Night
by Maq

Darkness approaching;
Grey dusk precedes the night
Shadowing in from the East.

Ice secretly descends;
Chill winds howl Winter's worst.
No shelter in the wild.

Frozen darkness lingers;
A lonely fire and drum
Beat out the night.

Embers burn low;
Frost enters every bone.
Heartbeat in the drumbeat.

Life ebbs;
Cold yellow dawn creeps warily
Across the horizon.

Drumbeats cease.
Heartbeats cease.
Life and death in precarious balance.

A pink-gold sun rises;
Birds clamour the dawn awake.
A jolt back to life.

Joyful ululation;
A wordless cry joins the birdsong.
Life returns as the sun rises.

Life returns as the sun rises!

*   *   *
Longest Night by Maq 2005