Twilight Comes Twice

In my class we are studying poetry. We are read the book Twilight Comes Twice and I thought it was a beautiful book....with some amazing illustrations. Here is most of the poem so I hope you enjoy the imagery and the figurative language.

Twilight Comes Twice
By Ralph Fletcher

Twice each day
A crack opens
Between night and day.
Twice twilight
Slips through that crack.

It stays only a short time
While night and day
Stand whispering secrets
Before they go their separate ways.

Dusk is the name
For evening twilight.
Dusk gives the signal
for night to be born.

Dusk deepens the colors
Of ordinary things.
Even the common grass
Takes on a luster
That makes you
Stop to look.

In the summer, dusk
Hisses on the sprinklers.
It flushes out
Millions of mosquitoes
And armies of bats
To eat them.

Fireflies appear,
Swimming through the air,
Writing bright messages
In secret code.

Slowly dusk pours
The syrup of darkness
Into the forest.
Crows gather in the tree
For last-minute gossip
Before nightfall.

In the early morning
A pale twilight touches
The edge of the sky.
It is called dawn.
Dawn is like a seed
That will grow into daylight.

With invisible arms
Dawn erases the starts
From the blackboard of night.
Soon just the moon
And a few stars
Remain.

Dawn picks
Bits of dark
From between
The blades of grass
In your backyard.
No job is too small.

In the forest
Dawn drinks up night’s
Leftover darkness,
The great black pools
And deep-rooted shadows.

Walking at dawn is
A special kind of walk
Sounds ring out more clearly
The air is till moist
From the cool of the night
And your own skin
Feels all tingly clean.

Dawn signals the crows
To start their jabbering
What a racket they make
In the willow tree!

Down below, three robins
Hop through wet grass
Shopping for breakfast
Worms.

Spiders rouse themselves
Still stiff from the night
And go to work repairing
Their dew-spangled webs.



I think I love this poem so much because it reminds me of the quiet times in my life before the day starts that are filled with the anticipation of a new day....or as the dusk settles into evening when I can revel in the fulfillment of day well lived.

At camp this time comes early, those brave of heart (or foolish) can feel the calm excitement that comes dawn. Some of my favorite moments at camp are waking early (ha-ok after the actual waking up part), getting my coffee bleary eyed and waiting for the day to begin. It starts slowly with a few people moving about, the fog burns off quickly, then the first wheelchairs begin making their way back to cabins after being charged up, soon the camp will be bustling with movement, shouting, laughter, and giggles in the warm summer sun. This is much better when shared with a friend in companionable silence, just soaking in the quiet before the lost swimsuits need found, mosquito bites need anti-itch cream, and one stubborn camper needs reminded why we make our beds at camp. This time comes again, usually just around when Taps sounds softly. As the cicadas start their nightly humming, the sun fades into the shadows, and the heat becomes comfortable again. It is now, during this time I can look back and smile about the things that at the time were not significant but now with time and distance are what make days special, what I look back on during the year, and what I look forward to happening once again.