Winter's Night or Such is Life......

Your altar is not made of stone
But of a starry sky
And moonlight captivates the throne
Where all our daydreams lie
I wander on your muted turf
Quiet and wistfully
For suddenly it seems the earth
Is a vast silver sea
As on its crest I sail alone
Across the wave of time
Beyond the troubles I have known
To where the bluebells climb
For just a few short months ago
We sat upon this wall
And gazed at garden paths below
And heard the waterfall
But now, besides the winds that blow
There is no sound at all
The crickets left three months ago
The song-bird ceased to call
As to a fairer shore she flew
Until the beck of spring
I look to where the roses grew
There is no whispering
Of little breezes as they laugh
Within its scented bloom
They scampered down the garden path
Before the night of gloom
And russet teardrops deck the soil
Beneath the thorny stem
Somnolent image of our toil
And what becomes of men
Ah night, a labyrinth of thought
Within your quietness
Vain pretense is all for naught
And utter foolishness
The reeds that blew are stiff and dead
The winds no longer smile
And every bloom has bowed her head
On some dark, garden isle
And such is life, the dawn of death
A journey to the night
Where we will draw our final breath
And take that final flight

Janet~