24 Hours

In the morning, at the crack of the dawn,
the sun peeps over the hills.
Casting off the blanket of the night,
a warm, clear light it brings,
And the cold mists that gather in the valley
Quickly melt away.
The dew on the grass evaporates as the sun,
in the morning,
brings day.

We all love the morning,
that fresh period where everything looks new,
When the grass is bright and green
and still wet from the night’s dew,
When the breeze is still cool
as it lightly caresses our skin,
Cool and gentle and clean,
a complement to the shafts of light
that the morning sun brings.

Image Source

We all love the clear morning,
and if we could, some of us would make an entire day
Of that moment when the sun peeps over the horizon
and sends the night on its way.
We would live on the eastern sides of our homes
and throw open our windows to greet the sun,
For the morning sun appears fresh and innocent
and we can be fooled into thinking it is young.

The morning makes us think of fresh chances,
a time to begin anew.
Few of us think of it as just part of a day,
and that each stage in our day has value.

Rather, we tend to avoid the midday sun,
for as it climbs higher,
It grows bolder and more austere,
until even our shadows perspire,
And under the scrutiny of the sun’s piercing rays,
the heat of its glare,
We wish for the caress of the morning,
the innocence of its fresh air.

And in the evening, we don’t take the time
to enjoy the sun’s fading light,
The pomp and splendor that it throws up-
blazes of orange and red- to usher in the night.
Instead we are anxious
and we fear for the darkness of the future we cannot see
But the thing is, if there is no night,
how can we appreciate the morning’s beauty?

For the morning sun is the afternoon sun
and the afternoon sun the evening’s,
And when night settles over our homes,
it is still in another part of the world shining.

The night is often that period
that truly tests our faith,
For it is sometimes only when our world is in shadow
that we can truly appreciate
our simple blessings:
the simplest and yet greatest of all, the fact that we are living.
Alive enough to feel angry or annoyed or hurt,
Alive enough to enjoy second chances when so many others
would trade places for the chance to walk for a few days more
on Earth.

Each week we enjoy seven days,
and for each day, 24-hours.
As we enjoy clear sunny days,
we must also appreciate showers,
And revel in the beauty of our middays,
evenings and nights as much as we love the morning’s sun,
For we need all- morning, afternoon, evening, and night- for life to truly go on.

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There's a new prompt over in the Blockchain Poets Community, my friends. You are invited to write this week about the things you are grateful for. Here's the link with the details. Please participate if you can.

Personally, if I were to be trite, I'd say I'm grateful for love, life, and laughter. While I am indeed grateful for all three above, more specifically though, I'd like to dedicate this particular moment to a friend.

A few years ago, a friend of mine became a warrior and went to war against an unseen enemy who was attacking her from within. It was a short battle though she fought hard. Yet, for all the pink ribbons in the world she wore, for all the medication, all the radiation, all the chemotherapy, she didn't survive.

I am grateful for my friend.

Dylan Thomas once wrote about old age, insisting that one should not go gently into the night. My friend went gracefully. Once the doctors gave their diagnosis, she came to terms with the future she faced, put on a brave face, and even when wincing against pangs of pain, she insisted on smiling.

I am grateful to have known her. And I am grateful that she has taught me that life is fragile and precious and must be appreciated at every stage. I am grateful that she has taught me to be thankful for every breath that I draw and for every lesson that I am fortunate to learn, even the difficult ones.

As the poem above states, I recognize that every moment of the day won't be the same. Sometimes I'd have thunder showers, sometimes I'd have clear skies. Whatever I face though, I am grateful to be here to experience it.

Thanks for your attention, my friends. I truly appreciate it.