On the Eve of Mercy-- A Poem

On the Eve of Mercy

Before the coming of light

There must be a darkening.

I stand at the banks of twilight

And gaze at my new-starry reflection

While in the waters

The streaked reflection of what was

From red to gray departs, abandoning,
Leaving me stranded in stars.

The eve of mercy descends to a dark night,
Its shadows removing the wounded Earth

of its sins.

It is tonight, the coming night of mercy,

Wherein the cold shepherds shiver

Unknowing, watchful.

I sigh, repeating to myself,
I don't know, I don't know.

My visage cuts cold and straight a face

Out of twinkling reminders,

And especially, that...new star.

I a small shepherd boy, I say to reflected

Stars. What do I know? The cold

Shivers down my spine.

Then with a flash the light

As bright as nova

And the sound of a thousand voices

Of praise, explode my reflection

Into a thousand messy fractals of color and light.