Acquainted With The Night
I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
O luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
--Robert Frost
I’ve been having trouble sleeping at night. I guess you could call it insomnia, except I sleep fine in the daytime. I have become truly nocturnal, due to my work schedule and some other things going on. I don’t mind it, other than I’m out of sync with the rest of the world.
Perhaps it has something to do with the bite marks near my jugular. ;)
Actually, darkness intrigues me, literally and metaphorically.
I love bats, shrieking through the air, navigating by sonar. Owls with their watchful saucer eyes. Foxes slinking stealthily about. Wolves howling, their blood stirred by forces unknown.
What is it about the night, the darkness, that fascinates and frightens? Is it the unknown? The possibility that something unseen is waiting for a chance to get us?
The night is full of creepy things: Devils. Bad guys. Strange creatures. Monsters in the closet…
But it’s also full of nice things: Romance. The moon and stars. Quiet coolness. The Max Weinberg Seven…
How about you? Have you ever been acquainted with the night? Can you embrace it?
I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
O luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.
--Robert Frost
I’ve been having trouble sleeping at night. I guess you could call it insomnia, except I sleep fine in the daytime. I have become truly nocturnal, due to my work schedule and some other things going on. I don’t mind it, other than I’m out of sync with the rest of the world.
Perhaps it has something to do with the bite marks near my jugular. ;)
Actually, darkness intrigues me, literally and metaphorically.
I love bats, shrieking through the air, navigating by sonar. Owls with their watchful saucer eyes. Foxes slinking stealthily about. Wolves howling, their blood stirred by forces unknown.
What is it about the night, the darkness, that fascinates and frightens? Is it the unknown? The possibility that something unseen is waiting for a chance to get us?
The night is full of creepy things: Devils. Bad guys. Strange creatures. Monsters in the closet…
But it’s also full of nice things: Romance. The moon and stars. Quiet coolness. The Max Weinberg Seven…
How about you? Have you ever been acquainted with the night? Can you embrace it?
posted by Jude Hardin | 5:37 AM
8 Comments:
Lovely post, Jude.
Night in the country is my favorite. Summer - when the peepers and crickets are chorusing and the fireflies dot the sky with their fluorescence. Or winter - when the cold, still chill enhances the stark beauty of the stars and moon.
I hope you can find a way to get back on a normal schedule, if that's what you need. Sunlight is really a good thing. You need that vitamin D, and it's an amazing mood enhancer! I'm sick this week - bad asthma - and I'm sitting out in my yard, under the maple tree with lime-green flowers. The sky is cerulean, Just gorgeous.
Hope everything works out for you, my friend.
I have serious, serious insomnia too. I just wrote about it on my blog. Thanks for posting that great poem. I'm going to print it and hang it on my wall.
Hi Aaron:
I can tell you are well acquaited with the night. Thanks!
Hi Stephie:
Glad you enjoyed the poem. Good luck on getting some sleep!
Hey . . .
I spent years more on a night schedule, but with four kids, including a baby, I now rise at 5:00 a.m. The night is a moody time for me to write; seems lonely somehow. The morning is a totally different vibe. I like both, but for now, I'm an early bird.
Hi Erica:
I dig the mornings too!
I think the Spanish tradition of siesta is great. Maybe I was just born in the wrong country. :)
Love Robert Frost.
I used to be such a great sleeper that I relished the odd episode of insomnia. I enjoyed those moments of darkness where the rest of my world slept and demanded nothing.
Lately I'm waaaay too aquatinted with the night. :(
I no longer enjoy it, I dread it. It has become empty, unproductive hours of listing all that I coulda/shoulda/woulda done during the day....if I wasn't so damn tired from not sleeping.
I'm considering embracing some serious meds. :)
Hi Lainey:
That's it exactly. If someone else is asleep, it's not like you can get up and vacuum the floors or something. Then when the rest of the world is up, you're too damn tired to do ANYTHING.
Meds might help. Also, I've had some luck before with melatonin. Worth a try.
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