Moonglow breaks the darkness
While the stars take flight
In the cool blue of winter chill
But for the warmth of amber hearths
As the momentary daylight faded
The mist which was once my Toyota
Settled into the crater
That had been a parking lot
I hoped the owner
Of that formidable weapon
Hadn’t acquired my new position
The concrete barrier I’d sheltered behind
Suddenly seemed feeble protection
Night returned and I got the fuck outta there
Oh, little one
Feel my heat
See my radiance
Do you not wish
To be so grand as I?
Oh, indeed, Great One
The little light replied
Your luminous warmth
Is the envy of all
Words in which the Great One
Took no small pleasure
Preening in preparation
To further explain its greatness
But… were I to be you
Continued the lighthouse
When the night comes
Or the fog grows heavy
Who would guide the sailor’s way?
Startled, chagrined and angered
The Great Light drew a deep breath
Preparing a dismissive retort
Then sank below the horizon
Leaving the little light
At Amphitrite
With its ever present beacon
To shine into the quiet night
A smile to say
“Goodnight, my friend”
Then again to
Welcome morning
In the darkness
Protect the gate
From those who carry
Cans of paint
These quiet hours
In the quiet streets
Shared by a few other strays
When being alone in my own skin
Offers a kind of camaraderie with other lone souls
Being alone in their own skin
Already
Standing in the street
Wary of taxis and buses
The trees obscuring
Already
In my hands
No tripod
The light
So very low
Contrast
So very high
Under a darkling sky
Near the end
Of the sun’s
Long good-night
By this light
No darker
click-cliick-cliiick
Exposures times three
Then merge exposures
To become one
In a too-small frame
With tree branches
Encroaching
While taxis and buses
Approaching
Held that lens
In my hands
With low light
And this frame
So this print
No better
But then too
Not bad
The regular stop
In the deep of the night
Homeward bound
Warmed inside
Allow the night
To enter frame
Count out seconds
Three by ten
Capturing
These timely glows
One from headlight’s driven thrust
Unfurls along the river’s edge
Another rises up
To meet the clouds
Escape from streets
Illuminate
