The Strange Familiar Dark

'When I get up to light the fire, And dress with all the speed I may By candle-light, I dread the hours That go to make a single day.But then I leave my room, and see How brightly, clearly darkness shines, When stars ten thousand miles away Are caught in our verandah vines.And I am almost glad that firesHave to be lit, before the dayComes up between the trees and drives The strange familiar dark away.'- Lesbia Harford