Hours (attempt #1)

Matins

Quiet
the beginning of the day
is the end of mine
all I hear on this path
is the steady chirp of crickets
the moon above is full and round
haloed by clouds
and stars.
I can see my breath.
a single leaf floats before my face
fallen from a tree's branches, high above me
one tiny leaf and I
see the glorious moon and I
am standing here, waiting for you
to give me your warmth


Lauds

A single line of
unsanctioned light making its way
through the closed drapes
I am too tired to sleep
With no sound but a fan and my own breathing
what hour is this when thoughts collide restlessly
skewer each other in the midair of exhaustion
eyelids creeping slowly down
darkness

at three in the morning it is easiest to hear
the earth's heartbeat


Prime

The sun is still fast asleep
and my new day has already begun
Maybe tomorrow
the sun can take my classes
complete the daily grind
for me
and I
can sleep in


Terce

Cold,
misty morning
first class of the day over already
somewhere in the distance, a crow
(or maybe a raven;
I never could remember the difference)
calls out, as if to make the mysterious air
even more alien
a mix of impending winter
and horror movie
another long day stretches interminably ahead
and all I want to do
is forget the world
and sleep


Terce (v.2)

There is a tree
by the music building
on its way from summer to fall
green to gold
some of the leaves are still green, defying winter
that is taking the rest of their brethren
side by side
with leaves the color of autumn
already beginning to brown,
crackle,
die

it's cold out,
and I wonder what you are doing,
and I wonder how long the signs of spring will last.


Sext

Sunlight at last
and I'm stuck inside
meetings and classes and work and
the sky is so blue

I listen and take notes
(like the good student I am)
but my teacher lectures in front of an open window
and behind her the leaves are falling
drifting down on the breeze
waiting to crackle underfoot
their siren song
whispering
"a painter never made such colors"


None

In here
I'm surrounded by white-washed walls
carpet covering earth
instead of dewy blades
white columns replace the towering trees
fluorescent bulbs are the sun
I sit behind a desk as outside
the light of day
begins to fade
trapped behind a desk in this paper forest,
compressed and stolen from nature,
where the only green
is in the binding of a book

Vespers

Sometime between then and now,
the sun went away.
dusk is settling in
the day almost done
yet there is still so much work left to do
tonight, and even more to do
tomorrow.
the greys of dusk to the blacks of night, and then
the breaking of a new morning.


Vespers (v.2)

Dusk makes me feel nostalgic.
There is something sad in the way
the colors of the sun
are replaced by the greys of evening
the way brilliant prisms
become drab ghosts of their former selves.
rainbows are muted, colors banished
the grey time reminds me of a distant past
just as the sun reminds
of your promised joy


Compline

The stars are veiled by clouds
the moon invisible tonight
colds seeps in
through the cracks in a heated room
as exhaustion seeps in
through the cracks in my tired mind
soon sleep will come
and then
the return of the sun

Looking out,
a moment of stillness.
I close my eyes
and hear you in the quiet