Shadows climbing
Shadows climb the trees,
slowly, like sloths,
a branch at a time.
High leaves, like moths,
flap gently with the last
late fading sunlight
till everything but sky
succumbs to night.
Then that, too, turns its back
on day at last,
day's drama at an end,
and constellations cast
their pale, small, distant glow
on the now-dark land,
and sleep-inducing breeze
sifts us like sand.
(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society