The Golden Hour
I watch sundown
presented on a splendid stage
of western sky,
daily alfresco ritual.
Palomino clouds ramble
flowing twilight trails
followed by vaporous ghosts,
half an hour’s drama.
Playhouse for one
on a luminous background,
blue and soft gray streaks
glazed with ruby and amber bands.
I forget to breathe,
dispense with weariness,
disregard any ill humor
that lingers too long.
Caught up in the intermezzo
between day and night,
playing out across the heavens
with dimming tones of tangerine.
As light slowly pales to nightfall
stars begin to appear.
A long sigh of gratitude
escapes my body.
This is my spectacular show
west from my mountain,
reincarnation of a vintage theater,
framework for evening pageants.
Laura Bayless lives in Carmel Valley, is the author of four collections of poetry. Her poems have appeared in many local and national publications. She has participated in seven Women’s Voices readings at the Carl Cherry Center in Carmel and multiple Women and Food poetry presentations on the Monterey Peninsula. She is an Associate Editor of the Monterey Poetry Review.
I watch sundown
presented on a splendid stage
of western sky,
daily alfresco ritual.
Palomino clouds ramble
flowing twilight trails
followed by vaporous ghosts,
half an hour’s drama.
Playhouse for one
on a luminous background,
blue and soft gray streaks
glazed with ruby and amber bands.
I forget to breathe,
dispense with weariness,
disregard any ill humor
that lingers too long.
Caught up in the intermezzo
between day and night,
playing out across the heavens
with dimming tones of tangerine.
As light slowly pales to nightfall
stars begin to appear.
A long sigh of gratitude
escapes my body.
This is my spectacular show
west from my mountain,
reincarnation of a vintage theater,
framework for evening pageants.
Laura Bayless lives in Carmel Valley, is the author of four collections of poetry. Her poems have appeared in many local and national publications. She has participated in seven Women’s Voices readings at the Carl Cherry Center in Carmel and multiple Women and Food poetry presentations on the Monterey Peninsula. She is an Associate Editor of the Monterey Poetry Review.
