In the four o’clock light of a fall afternoon
The realm of reason gives way to wonder.
The vision of old is gone too soon.

Stone lichens read like an ancient rune
Of Odin casting my thoughts asunder
In the four o’clock light of a fall afternoon.
Do I dare emerge from my sane cocoon
To mine the ruins of a mythic world under
In the four o’clock light of a fall afternoon?

Is it Loki who tricks my spirit to swoon
And feeds this phantasmagoric hunger?
The vision of old is gone too soon.

I wish to ride in Mani’s chariot moon
And wield the mighty hammer of thunder.
The vision of old is gone too soon.

For an instant the solid rock is hewn
As the inner child is freed to wander
In the four o’clock light of a fall afternoon.
The vision of old is gone too soon.

[Gene Twaronite’s work has been published in numerous literary journals and magazines, including Avatar Review, Forge, Highlights for Children, Read, Snowy Egret, and The Write Room. He is the author of the young adult fantasy novels The Family That Wasn’t and My Vacation in Hell.  He is a published member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. An accomplished speaker, he offers interactive PowerPoint programs, based on his two novels, free to any school or library in Arizona.]