By Ava O’Donnell

Outside the room
Sparrows call out into dusk
Sunset fades, faded far
To a bluish sky and a silent hush.
An open window lets the breeze in
After it rushes through leaves
Of the pomegranate, eucalyptus, oak
The screen door slides open, slams shut
Birdsong in the trees.
Shhhhhh – can you hear it?
Traffic sounds far away, but up close
It lulls back and forth with the wind
Push, pull, the perishable ambience
Of this evening’s silence.
There is work to do
And it waits
But there will never be another moment
Quite like this.
Nightfall, autumn
The end
The day’s time has spilled to
The other side of the hourglass
Rest, at last.
Photo credit: Claude Monet, The Houses of Parliament, Sunset, 1903