all the golden nights

This one's for all the shows we've seen (one more on Tuesday, or maybe two if we win a lottery for a Wednesday matinee), and especially for Audra McDonald in Gypsy today. And thanks to my wife for the poem suggestion. ♥

This is the quiet hour; the theaters
Have gathered in their crowds, and steadily
The million lights blaze on for few to see,
Robbing the sky of stars that should be hers.
A woman waits with bag and shabby furs,
A somber man drifts by, and only we
Pass up the street unwearied, warm and free,
For over us the olden magic stirs.
Beneath the liquid splendor of the lights
We live a little ere the charm is spent;
This night is ours, of all the golden nights,
The pavement an enchanted palace floor,
And Youth the player on the viol, who sent
A strain of music through an open door.

—Sara Teasdale (1884-1933), "Broadway," from Rivers to the Sea, 1915. I love a sonnet.