…of evening

Dusky haze of evening, falling on the day
tinting all in gold and pink and shades of blue and green
eerie, muted sunlight, weakly touching what it reaches
dark and deepening shadows, lying down like felled behemoths
dappled terrain, places hidden from view by the passing of the light
that special, soft, brightness on the tips of leaves
forming sharper outlines, crisper pictures of the leafless trees
oddly, softening the edges, of the distant hills
a smoky blue, almost black, line on the horizon
trails of clouds, touched alternately with colours and with grey
gathering together, in preparation for the closing of the day
the smoky, sunny, picture, the patchwork quilt of shadows
the ghostly grey of giant gums
stark, against the deeper blended, backdrop
yet somehow painted gently, in the frame
a whisper in a crowd, as tender as a snowflake
and as cold, as beautiful, as the blackened trunks
where fire has passed, a preview of the dark
the distant river snaking through the bush
its’ pearly surface blushing, glowing
with the final, toasty brushstrokes of the fading sun
as the landscape sheds its’ colours
as the darkness claims its’ place
the scenes of warmth and wonder subtly shift
and an unease, slips in
a discomfort wrought from darkness
from the coolness of the hour
from the sinking sun, abandoning the stage
the lengthening of shadows has transformed the canvas now
the shades of grey and black, fully painted out the picture
quickly fading out to black
the curtains drawn across the frame
© Ann Bagnall