Dawn in Purgatory

"By now the sun was crossing the horizon
of the meridian whose highest point
covers Jerusalem; and from the Ganges,

night, circling opposite the sun, was moving
together with the Scales that, when the length
of dark defeats the day, desert night's hands;

so that, above the shore that I had reached,
the fair Aurora's white and scarlet cheeks
were, as Aurora aged, becoming orange."

Dante fixed unmoving as Aurora evolved
in that vermillion cloak gathered to her
the folds exquisite and within his grasp.

If awed we may remain unjaded
when age corrupts the senses all
burnished be that soul tethered to the journey.