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NATURAE part 2 by DOM
the scene : at DAWN Two fleeting phases when light and twilight blend . Thus sojourns both Day and Night . One to end while the other ascend . DAY: Good morning cousin . How fares the night ? I have had my fill of peace and hunger now for the business of the day . NIGHT: Greetings my cousin . For now we meet and then part again . We bandy thoughts at this hour of Night and Day . DAY: Day and Night . NIGHT: Whatever pleases you . Well now my Day , speak of the struggle of existence which you?ve often seen . DAY: The struggle for existence ceases not for Day or Night . A pervasive conflict that bows not to the Hour . Green thatches of interlocking foliage jostle and slalom . They long to be Sunlight?s chosen . Bough battles bough , each sprouting leaf and lengthening shoot aims to outwit its rival . Sub ground roots hit and parry along dense soil . Roots wrestle for coveted routes towards moisture . Self preservation is the strongest impulse underground as well as above . NIGHT: Since primordial age have both land and sea been at odds for a larger slice of this world . Sea still whips outer reaches of land in its attempt to encroach further . Humanity intervenes . Soil deposits of hinterland are poured upon chosen shores . Beach head outstretches into the sea instead . But constant vigil is a prerequisite to curtail the efforts of lashing waves . DAY: Cousin Night . With your sprawling cape over the world , surely you are most apt to tell us of Vice . NIGHT: It is true that my cape conceals but caution I bid you . Do not pitch me into vile corners of knavery . ?tis not a whittling chore to seek Good if discernment stays lucid , gumption remains yours while will defies still the convenience of hearsay . Veils may be drawn in the shade of Nocturne yet weigh the weight with care for all cast in Darkness are not all kin or consort to the mask of Menace . At all hours stealthy thievery and tainted intrigue are spun and done . A measure of its doers heed to care that form and face stay anonymous in the knowledge of those grieved . Risk of telling mark brands those known as sought fodder for aspiring avengers . DAY: Offence was not the intention nor ill will sought . Fault of tongues missteps . We offer our apologies as balm for a bruise . Most unfortunate that my cousin is oft mistaken as a blanket for misconduct . NIGHT: Time imposes not upon virtuous deeds . The noble regress not into turpitude when nightly shadows mute shards of infant light . Likewise scorching sun shrivels not pure kernels . What?s Good by far possesses sturdier base than mutating humour . Yet I shan?t deprive you of your request . On Vice I have these on it . In hushed secrecy Truth is muffled beneath distracting mien . Where misdeeds lurk there are few confessors . Vice . Treasures dubiously sprung . Fillips of questionable pedigree overlooked in mid frenetic jollification . Picaresque wranglings bear surrepticious delight . Fruits of strange origin overcome tongues with sweetness acquired bitterly from those aggrieved . I pray that I have abated your curiosity . DAY: Indeed ! NIGHT: Having quenched your first thirst , I bid you, speak of Virtue . DAY: A foil made to counter Vice ! Virtue soldiers on untempted by enticements procured by Vice , from tainted intentions proffered . Pain of sacrifice smarts . Transient . Far worse to drink from the chalice of Vice , suffer censure and lifelong penance . Virtue , fount of fine attributes . Guardian of innocence . Bastion of moral consciousness . Virtue?s the sublime awareness that winnows knave from noble . Bequeaths those deserving with legitimate trophies . Their bounty swell with honours honourably won and deeds nobly done . NIGHT: I see that much still lodge in your mind like a bursting powder keg you are . You have a willing pair of ears and a flint for your powder in me . DAY: You have discerned well . Amusing it is to know that Night has clairvoyant sight ! I have laid sight on debilitating Despair . Droves of souls lie prostrate . Mowed by Doubt . Despair drapes its cloak over Hope . Stifling garotte which asphyxiates optimistic Faith . This slate implodes upon itself and spares no refrain in dejected denial . Clouding up mood of others with plaintive pestilence . What else are you Despair ? An abyss that impel those hopelorn over the precipice . Propel average souls towards uncharacteristic foolhardiness in their desperation . While the scales of Justice weigh Circumstance and Consequence , Life reels from the outrage. What of you Night ? Have you saving grace for these souls ? NIGHT: I have . Faith?s the obstinate flame unbowed even though adversity threatens to douse earnest efforts . A shaft that leads out of the pit . Secret aspirations whispered to ourselves . A place we dare visit amid private reverie?s vision with a longing contrary to present inconvenience . A bulwark Faith is . It controverts scattering fickleness . Surety in spirit against floundering facades for Faith invigorates mortal hearts with obdurate conviction . DAY: A saving grace and no less eloquent ! My cousin the clairvoyant ! Yet I wish to add , there are those who fear still the onset of Night . It is sight that is frail and sight that is oft at fault . Illuminated by daylight , leafless branches are leaden exceptions against plush terraces . ?neath scanty light of Night , those same branches appear like unsheathed ghostly daggers , suspended at menacing height . Buoyed by safety in numbers , masked by scarce light , formidable silhouettes , agitators of patience , crucibles of resolve , teasers of courage , all charge boldly . How one wishes for guardian gargoyles to smite these preying spectres ! Friends and foes blurred by garbled silhouettes . Proximity reveal tardily or opportunely . Outcome rests on gifts of deftness and speed . NIGHT: Hold still there ! I do bear comfort too ! For those who shun the sun at its midday prime , the evening phase becomes their chosen juncture to emerge and gaze at day without braving sting of heat or pallor of a tan . I spare their sight from instinctively squinting . Moisten not their clothing with noon swelter . The Day is the more boisterous portion of the two . Suburbs and metropolis reverberate with industrious din . Smoke stacks increase exhaust density . In the desert , Day misleads sight while I undeniably obscure . Sunlight sparks upon the sand as flickering mirages confound . Night?s dark cape is sloughed off friends and foes . Under lighted lucidity , shadows of doubt evaporate . Come Day , speak of eagles and bats in your time ! DAY: Preying eagles flex their talons . With wings outstretched , unhinge themselves off the ledge , into flight . Daybreak presages an outward course towards feeding fields . Bats wing toward cavernous habitats . Seeking shelter from Sunlight?s blaze and daylong repose . What of bats and eagles at dusk , my cousin ? NIGHT: Regal eagles rest pinions and talons . Hunting time is past . Declining light presages a homeward course to their roost . Slakened eaglets curl up for rest and eventual slumber . Bats flap wings , a prelude to nightly swoops and sorties . Bats , legendary cohorts of phantoms reinforce their myth in fabled horror . DAY: Dreamers rouse from Nocturne?s lap . At initial squint of wakefulness reality prompts cosciousness about cares left at Sleep?s portal . Streetlamps snuffed of their glow . Receding shadows at the first peek of dawn , evict their usefulness . Pavement cracks are read with ease when liberated from nightfall?s blindfold . Farmhands unbolt enclosures . Flocks of sheep up and about . Bleating with relish they trot forth with anxious appetites . Scattering out of their pen imposed proximity , they bask , frolic and graze on lush grass . Night , what have you to say of this ? NIGHT: Having had a day?s fill of meandering grazing , a contented flock is led to their common enclosure . DAY: Scholars rouse rested intellect . NIGHT: Scholars douse vented intellect . DAY: Doubters wake up spiritless . NIGHT: Doubters brood to sleep . DAY: Those hopeful pursue cares earnestly . NIGHT: Those hopeful nestle in pleasant mullings . DAY: Rites of passion suspend their fervour . NIGHT: Perfume and ardent promises of courtship . DAY: To their devotion , the faithful stream spiritedly . NIGHT: One last prayer and the faithful rest with peace . At the threshold of descending dusk , my veils wait to blanket those sleep bound . One last burst of the spectrum when glaring gold mellows into subdued crimson . Pursued and inevitably overcome by evening?s dusky tan . That is vesper as I know it . DAY: Discreet amber imposes upon greys of nocturnal heavens . Amorphous aberration evolves from circular discolour to pronounced glow , growing out of the livery of darkness , enlightens all on earth domiciled . That is dawn as I know it . NIGHT: Time is fleeing . Let?s retire from this verbal bandying . The scene alters . Go now and reign wisely . Prosper well the world under your auspices . DAY: Fear not . Creation shall stay on course . We are alternating sentinels in this perennial parade . NIGHT: Once more granules drain from top portion of the hour glass . Old Nocturne to rest . Nascent Aurorae to govern . DAY: God be your guide . Relieve me when I?m no longer at dawning dawn . When you re-emerge freshly eager , while I to leisure , saunter .