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+ 2ND POEMS: Where Were You When The Darkness Came
And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a
darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
---Luke 23:44
At twelve noon, or the sixth hour, the darkness
began: a darkness quite unlike our nights are
(sinking dusk, the stars and---sometimes---moon).
The trees that wore a lascivious green
as with spring renwed, were mere outlines
of darkness against descended darkness.
The sound of bees among blossoms ceased and
no nocturnal chirp of cricket returned
Even the distant roll of sea waves fell
away. After that twelve noon, normal days
would not be the same again. A line
had been crossed betweeh past and next; for good.
Even the pyramids, those piles of stones,
and corpses remaining in the valley
of kings had not experienced a day
like this one since twelve noon, or the sixth hour.
By the ninth hour, the light, still dismal now,
began seeping into the sky, a bit
each moment as if not to injure our
strained, darting eyes. How can anyone
alive, that day, escape the memory---
that horror of great darkness come upon
the world, as though by startling prophecy---
the agonizing death of some Great One.
Starward
[*/+/^]
