Poetry/ Nature/ Sunset

A sloop of amber slips away Upon an ether sea, And wrecks in peace a purple tar, The son of ecstasy. — Emily Dickinson, Sunset

T he shadows lengthen. Old buildings find their slice of sun, as the chirpy winglets gather to journey back home. The scorch withdraws as the breeze find life, blowing over trees, ruffling their hanging greens. The mellowed light, susurrating foliage, dull flickering street neons glowing one by one, shining on the newly formed dew on street side grass — point to a serene moment of a day.

As the swirling wind plays with unruly hair, the sky above dances to the philharmonic of the hue-mingle that splash the umbrella above with yellow, red, pink and mauve.

An autumn chapter in a day's book, a celestial poetry slipping into the arms of moon river, the magnificent theatrics of the abendrot sky — is the event of the setting Sun.

You don't buy tickets to the Universes's Opera.

Paint the canvas gold Click! It goes my soul shutter O sky, sing happy — Click ,haiku by Author

"You have to travel far and wide to see a lot of the world's wonders, but sunsets can be appreciated in every corner of the earth."– Kimmie Conner

Nature is packed with moments of inspiration. They don't occur everyday but for sunrise and sunset. All rises come packaged with its optimism, but rarely a 'going down' is so calm, serene and sublime as the setting sun.

The master creator's colour orchestra playing in harmony to create a melody human minds hum their whole life.

"Sunsets, like childhood, are viewed with wonder not just because they are beautiful but because they are fleeting."– Richard Paul Evans

I have lost count of sunsets I have experienced by now, and every time wondered, how we are all the children of the sky huddled under the same cerulean canopy living unknown lives, yet watching the same sun going down everyday.

The Sun creates a connect with the unknown and unseen thus forging an invisible human bond.

When insect wings are glistening in the beam Of the low sun, and mountain-tops are bright, Oh, let me, by the crystal valley-stream, Wander amid the mild and mellow light; And while the redbreast pipes his evening lay, Give me one lonely hour to hymn the setting day. — William Cullen Bryant, A Walk at Sunset

I have travelled to pristine beaches to enjoy a day end crescendo and watched the sky change colours with complete strangers. But the beach interspersed with breathing silhouettes shared same emotions — melancholy, amazement, intoxication, casuistry, admiration, love and sadness. It was easy to start a conversation around a setting Sun, where 'speaking about weather' is a dry courtesy!

Blazing in gold and quenching in purple, Leaping like leopards to the sky, Then at the feet of the old horizon Laying her spotted face, to die;

Stooping as low as the otter's window, Touching the roof and tinting the barn, Kissing her bonnet to the meadow, — And the juggler of day is gone! — Emily Dickinson, Juggler of the day

The vastness of the sky's ocean comes with its promise to enthrall and entertain. In azure's screen, the slow playing tunes fill the vacuum, spreading its wings, floating around, mountains, valleys and oceans, like a fire rising from its ashes and encompassing its own very existence, only to die its natural death.

A sight to behold, absorb and kept safe in memory coffers for ages to savour in moments of solitude.

"Sunset shows that LIFE is too beautiful to hold on to the past so Move on to the Present."– Jennifer Aquillo

This celestial ritual comes with its text book on life. Nature, the silent teacher tells us, little nuggets about how to view our days of functioning hearts, while walking the earth:

• A sky with a cloud witness better sunsets, suggesting a little of melancholy is needed to understand the real essence of life.
• It tells us endings can be beautiful too.

I remember spending some silent moments here after the beach was vacated following a sunset, and saw how the sand, the light, and the furniture created a mini replica of the boisterous celestial act, just like a child would play-imimtate a favourite actor of his/her choice.

A Few Words:

"Whenever you want to see me, always look at the sunset; I will be there." — Grace Ogot

I am a confirmed Opacarophile (lover of sunsets). There isn't anything I have written in this one year that does not have an element of a setting sky, in its core, beauty, strength and vulnerability.

For me it encompasses the very idea of poetics and its genesis in me, where a 'leaving' can be so magnificent that you wait for it everyday, for the blue above to metamorphose into a kaleidoscope of colours, to sit and watch agape.

I remember a time when I searched every inch on earth to provide me with inspiration, when it was showered from above.

Life is poetry, when you learn to live in twilights.

You see the sun in its femme beauty readying to waive goodbye, but the moon in no hurry, waits in the wings for the sun to leave the stage and slowly go down the horizon.

A seamless passage of existence. And that death can alight in its alluring charm !

The ball of fire diminishes, The story slips down the horizon, Silence is silenced in the moment, Earth's ears pressed to the ground.

Kaleidoscope firmament Beginning a story new, Leafing through a new script Dark waiting for the cue.

Night walks in character And stars, Moon readies its gown, The show sold 'Houseful' Dreamers, Poets, wanderers All eyes sky-bound.

The soft breeze kisses the trees, Rendezvous they hold, Susurrus leaves whisper, Un-heard yawns told.

Oh! there it goes — In haste a shooting star, Constellations align, Telescopes, the ether Connect bar.

A everyday solar routine, Nightly, a new leaf turning, The magician hidden behind clouds, His magic wand waving. — The Sorcerer, by Author

Photograph copyright © Monoreena Acharjee Majumdar

Thank you Dr. Preeti Singh for catchy Reciprocal Nature Prompts, this week being Sunset. It is always a pleasure to craft a response around your prompts.

Thank you Yana Bostongirl and Sahil Patel for creating this space for reciprocity and creative exchange.

Akemi Sagawa writes about enjoying sunsets from her window, an activity I frequently adhere to. Read her in In-seattle-the-sun-sets-in-different-positions.

Lalitha Brahma speaks about lighing inner light when the Sun goues down in Feeling-sad-to-say-goodbye-to-sunset-read-this-to-light-your-inner-lamp.

Thank you for your visit and encouragement. Greatly appreciated!

For anyone not versed with Indian Classical Music, there is a Raga designated for every turn of a day. Hamsadhwani (swan song) is a twilight/dusk raga.

Find Maestro Amjad Ali Khan in Sarod usher in a sunset with this mellifluous Raga: