Night

atop cotton sheets
the drone of the ceiling fan
keeping me awake
–
sleeping dogs-
paddle fans spin
in lazy circles

another meeting-
I know your failings so well
as I do my own
–
rain slicked neon-
another club soda
graces my glass

walking to the car
mercury vapor street lamps
spilling blue green light
–
drizzle-
moths dance
in the streetlights

reading into my
masochistic tendencies-
our old love letters
–
grimy windows-
a metal fan
stirs the air

the whiteness of bone
long buried in the desert
revealed by the wind
–
summer evening-
dogwood petals
in the grass

canons and mortars-
our patriotic fervor
lights up the night sky
–
fireworks
the dog hides
under my bed

a thief in the night-
sleep steals into the room and
takes me unawares
–
cunning-
the sly sofa
steals my will

a viking long boat
trailing ash and smoke floating
towards valhalla
–
central park-
cigar ashes on
the chess board

ephemeral rain-
bird songs echo from the trees
in the fading light
–
twilight-
a grove
of amber

my open window-
from the red barn a white owl
asks me one question
–
transfixed-
the field mouse stares
at his death