"I wanted to ride this day down into night..."

Christmas 2023I love this poem by Ted Kooser entitled Happy Birthday.

This evening, I sat by an open window 
and read till the light was gone and the book 
was no more than a part of the darkness. 
I could easily have switched on a lamp, 
but I wanted to ride this day down into night, 
to sit alone and smooth the unreadable page 
with the pale gray ghost of my hand.

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