This night…

was just such a night
as have been many the more
nights afore
of timeless
sleeplessness.

I lay awaking
aware of every inbreaking
sound:
the car ‘round
the road’s bend turning,
the train, o’er the track just to the west, churning,
its whistle blowing,
nature’s nearness, the limb of a tree just outside my window clutching
of a hooting owl, its wings fluttering;
and alert to every sight:
the ambient light
across the ceiling flickering;
finally, restless, rising
staring
at the distant moon beaming,
the manifold stars twinkling.

Standing,
into the night’s endless canopy gazing,
I wonder
whether another
near or far, far away,
as I, was praying
to the Other
that by the coming morn
all the world by Spirit-sword would be shorn
of all the –isms(1) that press harsh upon human longing
and all the –ities(2) that make midnight of every day’s dreaming;
and that life would, could richer
fuller,
truer
be…

Was another, as I, praying? Probably!
Will the day dawn brighter? Probably not!
Yet, by faith and hope, my soul faints not.
Thus, I continue to pray:

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O Light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.(3)

Footnotes:
(1) E.g., ageism, ethnocentrism, racism, sexism, etc.
(2) Here, I think primarily of the iniquity of inequality.
(3) Words (1882) by George Matheson (1842-1906)