I wrote this poem ("Ask Me Not of Sunset") for my Mother's 80-th birthday, while watching a giant lizard swimming gracefully in a swamp and a kingfisher bird taking her first step in the dawn. Ask Me Not of Sunset. (to Eniek on her 80-th birthday)Do not come and ask me of sunset, For I have not seen one,For I have not been one.They came and asked:How about the greying of hair, The fall of tooth,The aching of bones,Is it not sunset?I answered them loud and clear:No, it is not sunset,Because for every strand of grey hair, Every tooth that fell,Every aching of the bones,A new wisdom will come, knocking at our door: Learn anew, it is dawn again.The next time they marched and shouted: How about the faces we forget,The names we cannot recall,The memories that fly away,Is it not sunset?So I answered them louder and clearer: No, it is not sunset.Because for every face, and name, And memory we lost,There is always a new song waiting to be sung, A new poem to be written,To honour all that have gone by.They stomped their feet and screamed: How about those departures of our beloved, Early evening slumber that feels too early, The loneliness of the soul,Is it not sunset?I smiled and answered: No, it is not sunset,For every departure will remind usTo paint a worthwhile legacy,All loneliness and slumber that feels too early, Will be wiped away by a morning prayer, And by a first, small step in the dawn.Ask me not of sunset, For I have not seen one, For I have not been one. #wildlife #wildanimals #giantlizard #kingfisherbird #swamp #naturelovers #morningmeditation #nature #Beethoven#joyfullife #poem #poetrycommunity #poetrylovers #sunset #dawn #lifelonglearning #acceptance #literaturereview #literature