Lena Terhaar's "4:30" is a short snapshot of a sleepless morning. The speaker has been awake since 4:30, staring at the sky and watching the faint early sunlight glitter on the tide. It's a quiet, almost pretty scene, and the speaker seems to notice it with a kind of tired attention.
But the second stanza shifts from the view outside to what's going on inside. The speaker has a headache, and it comes from a "busy night" and a "busy mind." The last two lines are the heart of the poem: thoughts the speaker believed they had left behind have come back. Nighttime has a way of doing that, bringing up worries just when you want rest.
The mood is weary and reflective, with a little calm mixed in. The slow sunrise offers some beauty, yet the speaker can't fully enjoy it because their mind won't settle. The contrast between the soft light outside and the crowded thoughts within is what gives the poem its feeling.