‘Light of Dawn’ by Camilla Marx

There is no battle like the break of light
And yet the world still sleeps, still unaware,
And day has yet to break the silent air
While lamplight dimly wrestles with the night.
The cold still lurks and clings to dampened grass
The leaves still shiver where the night winds pass
Retreating dark leaves lonely, one-by-one,
Shadows, transfixed before the rising sun.
And over eastern hills there breaks the light!
The sky is stained with blood of dying night;
The slowly-wakened, dazzled, glitter, sing
As grey frees contours, colours… everything.
For in this silent hour – grey; dull to some –
Two worlds have met, and one has overcome.

Camilla Marx lives in Cape Town, South Africa, with her husband Bryan. She has a BA (Hons) in Theology, and enjoys history and literature.

This poem is among the entries for the Society of Classical Poets’ 2012 Poetry Competition.