D Day

Original version later rewritten as sonnet THE DAY GROWS LIGHT…
D-DAY
A grey half-light still reigns out in the yard
But brightening rooftops catch refulgent dawn
And through the looming trees one single ray,
Attenuated, sprawls across the lawn.

My frantic task has lasted all night through,
As coffee cups and ash tray indicate.
While scattered books and papers add their voice
Too chide me for this study left too late.

Somehow these last few months have slipped away,
While friends and I to Bacchus paid our dues,
And now comes with the sun that day of days
That predicates my future, win or lose.

I’ve only had time for some cramming notes
But things that I don’t know I might just fake.
May brazen bluff leave truth cleaved in the dust.
My greatest problem, can I stay awake?