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

I 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.