Darkest / by Brian Kunde

Darkest
by Brian Kunde

It’s always darkest just before the dawn,
The saying goes, but only if the moon
Has set, and street lights are no longer on,
And clouds cut off the stars. If so, then soon
The dark, thus thickened, will indeed, upon
The sun’s arrival break—a goodly boon
To non-nocturnal wights who wish it gone
And avidly that orb’s ascent to noon
Urge on. But what of those who haunt the night?
The owls, the bats, the felines, who ally
Themselves with deepest gloom against the bright
And those who hail it? All their schemes awry
Must go when they’ve no shroud to aid their fight
And hinder flight of those less swift and sly.
They’d turn about that adage if they could,
For no ill wind but blows somebody good.

* * * * *

Darkest

from Inversions and Variations : Various Verses, 1st ed., Dec. 2023.

1st web edition posted 8/29/2026.