Every Night When Darkness Comes Poem by Gert Strydom

I

Every night when darkness comes,
when we say prayers together
then I know that your bright light
never fails,

that you daily determine
the destiny of every one
who bend down to you, that stars spray like sparks
going to unknown places

and that you the sun of righteousness
will come at your set time
with bright rays, that you will come down
past all mortality,
that all earthly troubles and worries will disappear;
how do you Lord, let the pain be gone?

II

How do you Lord, let the pain be gone,
two animal children I have lost shortly after each other
and when in the mornings I look outside
there are only two left.

How do you tell others that do not really comprehend
of the bond that a person has,
of the love coming from the heart of a animal,
about the moments of unmentioned pleasure

and now that I am without a wife or children
the remaining two still serves me faithfully,
there is a tight bond
and I pray for you to hold your hand over them

and if you want to take them as well;
I am lost on this world.


III

I am lost on this world,
in the unknown world that waits tomorrow on me,
when my strength begins to wane
before the dark night,

but when the new light appears,
the sun still rises in a new day
(when the sun again shines in all of its glory over me)
in the unknown things waiting on me,

my known yesterdays are included
in bright days, that in late afternoons declines,
it is as if everything that came before is included
in memories and even when lightning bolts fall around me

I find your presence continually,
when shadows fall over me.


IV

When shadows fall over me,
when the world almost decadent
roughly falls into my universe
and shadows sometimes permanently

try to sabotage my best efforts
and everything in my will rises up
I feel pushed away, blunted and used;
but still I remember you

from whom all light comes
and are waiting on a new day,
although I am knocked down and am astonished,
although it continually looks to me like night

you never really leave me isolated,
even when in my dreams I scream and wonder.


V

Even when in my dreams I scream and wonder
why every morning folds around me,
almost endlessly without you,
as if live is destroying me,

trying to get me down
without me being able to keep the pain away,
as if no fatherly hand is helping me,
I still stand astonished

when I see the works of God
in small things around me
where its power without bonds
even unfolds in my own writings

I know that He constantly draws me nearer,
even when the scribes gather.

VI

Even when the scribes gathered,
to send me to hell,
they still wanted to draw near to you with a last prayer
on that determined dark hour.

To confirm that they are accomplishing your will,
as if to say, so says the Lord,
they stood in a circle,
that white plastered men.

At that time I was wondering about people,
who have the audacity to put them in your place
if that Sanhedrin
really did carry out your wishes

or are they the whole time walking in darkness,
do they not know what is written on the ground?


VII

Do they not know what is written on the ground?
Lord I thank you for sharpening me in my growth
even when so-called holy people come with a sentence
that interferes with my vocation.

Although sometimes I feel the pain penetrating
as if it’s cutting to the bone,
I know that you only mean things to be well for me,
that you and your angels are continually at my side

but ask that you protect me
against the darkness, the evil
that in hordes gathers around me,
that you do not wait

that you keep me on the right way, even when I go astray;
every night when darkness comes.