Most people miss the magic pause
between night’s darkness and first light,
hanging in brief limbo
before daybreak’s gilded glow
drives out the night
with sunrise and brightens
all below while Venus still reigns
as a tiny crescent
moon among winking stars.
Wildlife hastens a dawn retreat—
a fisher cat slouches across
a deserted two-lane road,
a fat skunk waddles lazily
deep into underbrush,
a coyote trio races
away in yipping harmony,
a red fox strolls a sidewalk
like a man ambling home.
Amid this night and day duality,
morning’s first rumble of traffic
belches with car engines
and honking horns as commuters
drive to and from their work
yet fail to discern the morning’s
busyness at play, distracted
now by traffic lights and haunting
tasks at desks and job sites
or home to sleep after night shifts.
WILDsound Festival 