Vesper Vision

Vesper Vision

The Sunset is such a ballet of color on this night that otherwise
lacks any special distinction.
Beginning, a brilliant, soft blue above a gray curtain on the horizon
Is a triumphant overture to this common, pallid evening.

I was drawn from my room by an invitation of bright light
Only to be made dizzy rotating my head seeing all these facets
As they changed with such graceful movement
into other, even more indescribable colors,
For whatever reason, more poignant
than so many Sunsets I have witnessed.

Possibly this very contrast of import is what
inspires the feeling that this seeing is so special.
There is a numinous sense that this flair of hues
is brighter, more spectacular than the sum of its parts
Which are so numerous. Covering 150 degrees,
Universe in front of me is a concave array of showing
how all life is so special when endowed
with the capacity to appreciate this display as fine art.

Even the clouds behind, the eastern festival,
Evince a special significance with a dense, fluffy gray
and dark blue blending of forces,
Altogether an uncommon spectacle
that stands in stark contrast to my life where
Doing laundry was the most exciting event here on Earth.

This wet and wintry valley is a pallet of frenetic colors
Set to music as the puffy yellow cumulus layer dances overhead.
Fully half the sky is a golden cotton connecting the
Magical blue extremes just described.


As I look at these clouds repeating their harmonies
reflecting off the puddles that adorn the nearby fields
I am feeling free and relieved of so many needs.
I am sensing the capacity in myself to be content
in moments like this. There is an urge to analyze

But I wonder not how I feel so enthralled,
but why in such a particularly sensitive and intense way?
Is this sober euphoria what it feels like to understand my Soul?

As the scene changes the next movement is somehow more
breathtaking than what has past.
The delicate pinks and roses have begun to emerge,
first infecting the cirrus lines in the West
with a flamboyant and lusty gesture
Then this vermilion passion paints the bottoms of the thick front
with a taunting tango of evocative movement
convincing the weather it is too high to dampen my spirits.
To understand this blessing I only need to relax and enjoy.

As the music in the air goes quiet to also pay its homage
there is a wash of red-orange over the whole
center of this scene. This must have happened before?
I don’t recall being so emotionally charmed,
nor so receptive and invigorated by this captivating reverie.

Too soon the blushing passion of translucent purple
advances across the sky-scape blending with the gray
and sounding a melancholy harmony.
Gratefully I am feeling somehow sanctified, forgiven, mellow
embraced by a natural, simple world;
Free from the clumsy yearning for friendship but
Open to whomever might choose to share this vision.
~
I.J. Hall
February 2, 2004