Sword Of Midday Radiance Poem by Michael Coldham Fussell

Sword of midday radiance, drawn straight to the equator of this rolling earth,
Your flaming advance maintains its aim, shedding your simultaneous beauty abroad,
In unceasing displays of splendour.

Sword of midday radiance, drawn straight to the equator of this rolling earth,
Your solar symmetry crowns the haloed heavens,
And appoints east and west an equal daily chance,
To simply seek enlightenment,
From your spiritual strands of gold.

Sword of midday radiance, drawn straight to the equator of this rolling earth,
At sunset turned away from by this planet, at sunrise turned towards,
Your awesome emanations from afar, splatter blood-red-battle-stains of victory,
Across the slaughtered sky.

Sword of midday radiance, drawn straight to the equator of this rolling earth,
Remain ready and hold steady with your sharpened blade unsheathed and scabbard-free,
For at the edges of the world where your brilliance is lost and gained,
In death and resurrection,
We are smitten by the tempered romance of your sanguine rays.