Daylight
The sun! A million bird-hymns split the skies,
His crimson halo sanctifies the peaks,
Flings green on grass and blue on babbling creeks,
The violets open dew-bespangled eyes,
The shadows spring away in swift surprise,
Bright clouds rush outwards, galleons white and sleek,
A merry day his golden beams bespeak,
And azure oriflammes proclaim his rise.
The restless specters of the fearful night
With elvish smiles unmask themselves as trees;
The beauty of the earth, once hid from sight,
Stands veilless, to be seen with joyful ease—
And I who doubted God’s returning light
Fall penitent and laughing to my knees.
-J.B. Toner
J.B. Toner is a graduate of the school of hard knocks.
