A Simple Miracle

Mara Lynn Barbee

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That which allows all life to live
Hides itself in the land from which life first sprang.
Children of bright pass on their roles
To those who are accustomed to a darker colored world.
The silent copies lengthen, far outdistancing their colored twins,
And the distant blanket is in transition from blue to black.
Cloud fire drifts over a sea of molten gold, signaling the end of a time
That is a million lifetimes and yet only one grain of sand on a beach.
A spinning marble in the silent sea
Slowly turns its dreaming side to face the fire.
All the beautiful occurrences inspire poets and artists worldwide,
This is the magic of sunset.

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Translation:
Lines 1 & 2: The sun sets, disappearing "into" the sea. Without the sun there could be no life, and life first existed in the sea.
Lines 3 & 4: Day creatures switch places with nocturnal ones.
Line 5: Shadows grow taller than what casts them.
Line 6: The sky turns from light blue to night black.
Lines 7 & 8: Sunset lights up the clouds so they look like fire, and the sea so it looks like liquid gold. And, you know the saying "Time flies when you're having fun"? A day can be long or short, empty or full, all depending on how you look at it. (Also, some animals only live one day, so a day is a great deal longer for them!)
Lines 9 & 10: The earth rotates in the blackness of space, turning the side on which people are dreaming to face the sun.
Lines 11 & 12: I don't think these two need an explanation.

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