The Canopy of Night

An allergic reaction to penicillin prompted this reflection on mortality.

The Canopy of Night

The darkness was over the great deep:
Night falls, and with it slumbers keep;
A hand outstretched, the dark comes,
And in the darkness, beating drums;
A thick darkness felt, all across the land,
And escape into night, and desert sand;
On the mountain peak, a blazing fire,
The heavens awake, and do inspire;
Deep darkness, black clouds, ascend,
And approach of all desire the end;
Darkness a canopy around the light,
For mortal eyes, so searing, bright;
So bright the vision, and then it fades,
All that remains are ghosts and shades;
A place of no return, the land of gloom,
The mirror shattered, reflected doom;
I go to that final land of deepest night,
And the darkness enfolds my tiny light;
Those processions going down the nave,
To final resting place, damp earth, a grave;
Yet I am not silenced by the darkness now,
And in the blackest night,  I make a vow;
Shrouds adorning, the dark covers my face:
But I know that I will know truth, this grace
Takes me though that dark valley of death,
Even as I breath my last, my dying breath.