Carnival of Night

The Carnival of Night

It was a carnival of light the whole night long
But a solitary moonbeam roamed alone
in a deep dark patch
in the midst of the coming and going of the stars.

The star of the night was shining all along
as she borrowed the moon's aura
and threw it all around.
The  Dame Night chose silence as her language

and her passive aggression
continued through the carnival -time,
though her words
made no sound.

But here the earth slumbered in peace
under her wide canopy.
lulled by her song
and dazzled by the stars..

Nothing stirs here ; all is quiet and still.
The fever of the frantic day
has taken its toll,
The silence of the night has redeemed all souls.

It's a small respite from the lures of success and failures
and their aftermath.
All is purity and  frozen silence.

The carnival is receding now ;
and one by one the stars will go,
and one dream detached
will bring on another dream to stretch.
Dreams that break, multiply and grow,
till by morning a whole  new city of dreams will glow.
It's time to wake up and call halt to the play of shadow.
It's the twilight-hour, neither dreaming nor waking,
The hour of distraction and delusion ,
sweet stupor and bitter aches.

The night is gone long ago,
With her Moon hiding in the fog.
Say farewell, say farewell.
The carnival is over
and we must move on to the light of the day.