Nocturne

 

Now that winter’s here, at sundown
the light quickly fades and the dark
soon descends on the whole town.
The landscape, at night, looks stark.

 

Trees are like stalagmites in the park,
rising, reaching for the cloudless sky,
where Alpha Centauri made its mark
being the brightest object to the eye.

 

Myth has it that a centaur that died
was placed among the stars by Zeus
whilst Deianeira for Heracles cried,
and in Olympus all hell broke loose.

 

The tears that she shed have become
constellations on the celestial sphere
and their names are familiar to some
who recognise them from down here.

 

There are fireworks in the firmament
as meteors combust, fizzle and burn.
The darkness on earth is only transient:
when dawn arrives the light will return.

 

© Luigi Pagano 2015