After The Fallen Hours

After the fallen hours
The world comes to a slow silence
Fires surrender their flames
Lights from far, far away
Make subtle gestures
Rippling in a great, dark void
And sleepers leave behind the noise
In favor of unlit visions and dreams.

After the fallen hours
A nocturnal scene stirs and awakens
Creatures unseen by day
Make their forays into the black
Nocturnes and rare solos
Play and sing in subtle rhapsody
They unfurl a choral backdrop
Keeping a time all their own.

After the fallen hours
My mind is alight with imagination
Thoughts take the shape of ships
Sailing majestically amongst the shadows.
Though my love lies in slumber
I pine away for other worlds
And friendly faces
Eager to greet a perspicacious voyager.

After the fallen hours
The absence of the sun paints a hue
Only fate and lonely windows
Frame something similar after dusk:
Oh sweet night,
Smooth over me your gentle caress
Lay me down so I may fly
Away, away into your waiting arms!

Copyright © 2018 Charles Edward York
No part of this poem may be used or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any way or form or by any means electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise without the written permission of the author.*