Stirred from sleep once again
by the sudden ripping sound of dawn,
she can just make out
through slitted lids and hard packed earth
and a tangled mat of weeds
a streak of flame smeared across
the pale blue silk of the sky.
Before she can force her eyes to focus
it plunges toward the far horizon.
She struggles to cry out
wait…oh,
please, dear God, not yet, wait…
Too late, glow fast fading,
cruel warmth receding, gone –
And the long cold night begins again.
