Night watch.ON THIS NIGHT, AND MAYBE EVERY NIGHT, the human village, defined by angular roofs and a feeble spire, is dwarfed by the arcs of nature. A billowing bil·low n. 1. A large wave or swell of water. 2. A great swell, surge, or undulating mass, as of smoke or sound. v. bil·lowed, bil·low·ing, bil·lows v.intr. 1. grove of olive trees shades the edge of the valley. Blue hills stand as mysterious and menacing as whale backs. The swirling sky--an intimidating declaration of power and glory. Is it an intimation of cosmic birth pangs birth pang n. 1. One of the repetitive pains occurring in childbirth. Often used in the plural. 2. birth pangs Difficulty or turmoil associated with a development or transition: of death throes throe n. 1. A severe pang or spasm of pain, as in childbirth. See Synonyms at pain. 2. throes A condition of agonizing struggle or trouble: a country in the throes of economic collapse. ? But here in the foreground, standing guard over all, is the looming cypress, shaped like flames, reaching to the highest star, rooted deeper than we can see, into and under the town cemetery. "I am like an evergreen cypress," God told the prophet Hosea, steadily keeping watch through this night's wild ride. By EVELYN BENCE, a writer and editor living in Arlington, Virginia. Image: The Starry star·ry adj. star·ri·er, star·ri·est 1. Marked or set with stars or starlike objects. 2. Shining or glittering like stars. 3. Shaped like a star. 4. Illuminated by stars; starlit. Night by Vincent van Gogh (1889). Image: The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Art Resource. |
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