Gone is the early Greeks’
giant flock of birds that
blocked out the sun.

Gone too is the Egyptian Ra,
who died at sunset,
and Nott, the Norse giant’s
dark daughter who rode her
black steed over the night sky
with morning dew dripping
from her horse’s mane.

Science tells us night
is caused by earth’s
predictable rotation.
A quiet time
to sleep, refresh,
relax in moonglow.

But at some point in the night —
science retreats
and magic appears

There is evil in the fog,
moving shadows of
loneliness slink
the dark alleys and
we feel the acid rivalry
of sun and moon.

The moon wanes and we see
Anningan, the raging Inuit god
who still pursues his sun god
sister, starving,
in his anger.

[Lorraine Jeffery delights in her closeup view of the Utah mountains after spending years managing public libraries. She has won poetry prizes in state and national contests and published over one hundred poems in various journals and anthologies, including Clockhouse, Kindred, Calliope, Canary, Ibbetson Street, Rockhurst Review, Naugatuck River Review, Orchard Press, Two Hawks, Halcyon, Healing Muse, Regal Publishing, and Bacopa Press.]