Two Civilizations Poem by Emmanuel George Cefai

Ah! Two civilizations!
To More than one civilization
We humans be propense
Already
In the morning when
The cock call Dawn
The Civilization of Morn
Begin to play her rote and
Role:
The Civilization of the Light
Though in the Winter frost
Clouds and rain all blight:
Yet
Another Civilization then arises
To which perforce we humans
Bend on knee:
We yearn for it
Being of body tired
And the mind less sharp
And the Soul, the Inner Soul
too
of the woes throughout the
Civilization of the Light
Received to nurse the wounds
It yearns and yearns:
While the Soul too romantic
Irresistible
To symbols of the coming night
Herself prepares.
Night lamps romantic, alleys,
Streets deserted, houses that
Turn off lights, humans
That fall in beds,
And read, make love or sleep
Or all or part;
The bat, the cricket, the moon,
The white stars,
The open casement on the
Bosomed seas and waters
Sparkling silver moon
Reflecting; the quiet port
And harbor; neon lights
Cats that cross roads swift
Rats that stealthy hop
Hedgehogs that in the
Country dust hobble;
So many symbols of the
Civilization of the Night!
But of all them
Dreams reign all sovereign
Over lords of brains
In sleep with wondrous
Thoughts they feed
And in the early dawn
Or other time spark discoveries.
And thoughts and wise philosophies
Verses are here conceived
So often; plays; plastic arts;
And all the rest
That in our human civilization
Shone amongst the best.
And to each other each
Of the two civilizations alternates
In rough equality:
Irrespective of power and of
State
And
In the last the Civilization of the Night
In sleep that lasts holds sway
As lasting way