Nice Day, If You Can Get It

You can get half a dozen days
Before you get to a sunrise—

Just stop. Take note. Stop. And take note.
There’s dark and a slow shooting star.

The plain, drab hour of sink and shower,
Or the long drive up the mesa

To work or, if you’re luckier,
If this is one of those sweet days,

To a corner of the cosmos
Temporarily free of souls,

And there’s a dusky moon, a bat,
A jackrabbit, an owl to bed,

And a worm of day on the edge.
An hour later, still twilight, stars,

Just a few now, on lavender
Planks of road, woods, and sky. Crickets

And the songbirds waking, and yes,
It’s all ancient stereotype

In verse, but it’s alive if you
Can catch it, if you are. Sunrise.