Waiting for the New Year

The clouds whisk across an inky sky
The crickets sing soprano in minor keys
The moon’s silver orb lights up the sky
And countless creatures of the night
Are bathed in her beautiful silver light
As they scamper ahead of the dawn
The stars hang on the indigo canopy
Like tiny lanterns flickering in the wind
Some falling earthwards in flames
Protesting they tumble from the sky
Tinkling voices light as tiny wind chimes
Stirring in the warm summer night
A lone, mournful cry, then the owl takes flight
Whisper-soft wings brush the air and then
The owl again repeats her soft, sad refrain
Gently calling those whose time has come
They will not live to see the morning sun
Whom did she call, whose was the name?
Which of us will live to pass this way again?
The prayer flags sigh and flutter in the air
Restless in the night, waiting for New Year.