The Deep Night

For Helen

When I was a child,
The night called me from sleep.
It would speak to me from beyond
The window of my room,
Until I sat on the sill,
And listened and looked upon it.

And the night was deeper
Than the stars,
And older than time.
There was no beginning
Or end to it.
There had been no evening,
And there would be no morning
To this night,
Or to its still beauty.

This night was mine alone.
For no creature stirred.
No sounds disturbed
My possession of it.
It was a world
Only I knew,
In which I could walk
The streets of my own
Mind and heart.

I could explore
The woods and rivers
Of all that was in me
To create.
And by the light
Of the silent moon,
Know the magic
In the deeps of the night.

Copyright ©2002 Tony Crisp