Half-light and Whispers
Twilight is the most beautiful season of the day Where heavy light clots like milk across the seams Of stones warmed by the touch of sun Shapes and shadows fray and spill and run Spreading orange moons across the pavement And ashed, reverent dust betrays itself To cautious breath from incensed city rises. The battlements fast amid the languor of the evening Tangerine accents to everything and everyone Things are said and unsaid Spoken, and left in gentle pauses And words unthought and unannounced creep forth Noise and interlude co-exist As silence and the hubbub kiss As lovers do upon a sandy stair of time Revealing life, unraveling rhyme. An orange man breaks cover—the fox of urban hedge His happy silent steps A dance of star-glow and moon-merry Of joy untouched Of small, broken dawn Be merry yet, dear fox Beyond all sense and recall Afore all care, a voice A voice Noli me tangere.
—Gabriel Olearnik
Gabriel Olearnik studied medieval history at University College
London. He is currently an attorney and practices corporate law.
