Crossing the Continent: The Sun's Journey

From east to west, from sea to sea,  
The sun fans out her rays, 
And touches trees and mountaintops  
Awakening new days. 

The fields were soaked in starlight,  
The valleys masked in night, 
Soon to be awakened  
By her penetrating light. 

Upon the slopes and over peaks 
Her light directs its gaze, 
And melts the freshly fallen snow  
As quick as night’s dark shade. 

And climbing down the other side 
Of sturdy evergreens, 
She hears Niagara’s distant roars, 
So strong, so wild, so free. 

Upon the falls and surfaces  
Of Niagara’s grand facade, 
She adds a touch of sparkling light 
Inducing greater awe. 

Then leaping o’er a hundred miles 
She lands with full force in 
The Mississippi’s running currents 
And rides to the river’s end. 

And jumping out, before the gulf, 
She stretches and she yawns, 
And tiptoes on the sandy beach  
Tickling blue crab claws. 

Swiftly moving along the states, 
And Texas’ bright blue sky, 
She reaches the Canyon’s craggy cliffs 
And its rocky red-orange sides. 

She does not fear its towering height, 
In its depth she can easily stand, 
So, she frolics on cliffs and valleys, for her 
There’s no breadth too large to span. 

Approaching the Prairies along her path, 
The grasslands she fills with light,  
And warms the bison’s furry backs, 
And the holes where the prairie dogs hide. 
 
She’s filled the east with glowing light, 
To the waters she’s added new life. 
Having awakened the plains of the wild west, 
She now stands at the Pacific’s side. 

She boards a boat for Asia, 
Her work in America done, 
But she’s bound to keep appearing, 
Afterall, her name’s the sun.