Two Hours Before Dawn



It’s two hours before dawn,
  and I’ve slept through the night

The rarest occurrence,
  but her footsteps come light

She let me sleep soundly,
  and she let me dream free

Before entering my bedroom
  and calling to me

“Kurt, it’s Laura, she whispered,
   as she got into bed

“Are you happy in the solitude
   alone in your head

“Your spirit’s been truant
   but its voice I recalled

“Wake up from your sleep
   and follow me down the hall

“I’ve something to show you,
   so rub out your eyes

“And see what you looked like
   as a boy about five

She led me straight down
  to the end of the hall

The door was half open
  and my voice I heard call

“Aunt Laura, my crayons
  have broken again

“Aunt Laura, get ready,
  I’ve new words to begin

“The ones that you left me,
   I now know by heart

“And to Mother and Father
   I recited each part”

The boy smiled at her,
  and she smiled back at him

Before walking me back down
  to my room deep within

“I’ve always been with you,
  you know it so clear

“As your Muse I’ve been charged
  with your care all these years

“You were young when I met you
   and took you by hand

“Then to never abandon
   your voice as a man

“Your days may come easy,
   and your days may come hard

“But each night I’ll return
  —with new words from afar”

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2018)
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Submitted by KurtPhilipBehm on February 26, 2018

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:13 min read
33

Quick analysis:

Scheme XA XA BB XB XC XC XX XD EX XX FD GD XX BH BI JI JX FH EX XX EX GX BX XX B
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 1,326
Words 246
Stanzas 25
Stanza Lengths 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1

Kurt Philip Behm

Longtime writer with twelve books in publication. Three of them Poetry. : The Death Of The Playground : The Sword Of Ichiban : Searching For Crazy Horse : Darkening Sun : An Anthology Of Perception-Vol's 1 & 2 : After Midnight : Sammy And Bumpers : The Fall City Mandate : Revenge Along The War Trail : Death from The Sky more…

All Kurt Philip Behm poems | Kurt Philip Behm Books

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