This is a poem I wrote for our poetry night event! It’s inspired by stories like Goodnight Moon, following a little town as everyone in it settles in for the night.
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Once upon a dreary day in a tiny little village off to the right but just out of sight
The sun creeps down, slowly drifting to sleep
Barely noticed through the clouds of rain, the darkness of night creeps in from the sides
Though the day could not truly have been called bad, most were glad to be done with the grey grey day
A mother calls her child in for bed, and they’re rubbing their eyes as they’re led to bed
As they walk in their father rushes out, going to grab wood for their fire that night
As he runs back, trying not to wet the wood he waves at the man in the backyard of the house to the right
Waving back, the man on the outside the house to the right is a man with a plight
Should he go and slumber or finish with his lumber?
He sighs as he decides, lifting his ax back up high
Thud, his ax lands, splitting the wood for the last time that night, glad to be done and out of the storm
Across the street, the last light in a house goes out, as newborn baby finally falls to sleep
Her parents creep into their bed with quiet relief, not even going to brush their teeth
A few streets away a farmhand groans, weary down to her bones
Her work for the day has only just been done
As the sun finally sinks from the sky, her mother welcomes her in with a sigh
Dark as it, her mother has left her dinner out
In the tiny little village just out of site, the diurnal inhabitants have at last put out their lights for the night
Outside, their chickens cluck quietly, settling into their nests of hay
Dogs and cats inside of houses shaking of the rainy day
Horses and cows and even ducks too all prepared for their own slumber
But as the day goes to sleep, owls and badgers and moths awake
As the moon’s glow begins to show, rain finally drained, nocturnal animals begin to waken
An owl hoots, swooping past the moon and perching on a drooping boot
Awoken by its hunger, a badger awakes from its slumber and a moth lands on its back
Night soon ends, as the sun awakens, sending its blazing rays as the critters return once again to bed
Though the previous day was not quite bad, the sun awakes with the town once more and the day seems far more hopeful than the last
As the sun rises on a beautiful new day it is a bright new day glowing with potential
