End of Day for Archibald MacLeish

End of Day, For Archie
 
And here…
…the twilight travelers carried by the breeze
when evening shadows bloom from under trees
march one by one to beaches caging seas.
 
Across time zones and carried to the bay
the rivers, mountains, fields relax and stray
toward the west to mark the end of day.
 
The willing walk where shadows ever lift
and shadows march along the ocean’s drift
like grains of sand upon the outbound rift.
 
Along the beach lone figures one by one
leave restless homes to watch the dying sun
and sing the moon alive when day is done.
 
The heaving tide swims ever to the shore
where one by one the shadows shift no more
but rise and sink upon the ocean’s floor.
 
All weary travelers carried by the breeze
tilt one by one toward the midnight seas.
 
And here…
…around the world the willing lift and sway
toward the west to mark the end of day.
Go now.
Go down.