“I have been one acquainted with the night.
… I have outwalked the furthest city light” (Robert Frost).
No remote nature road for me
Where small rustles in the grass chill my gut,
Where moon and stars play hide and seek
Behind brooding verdant branches;
Where cackling cicadas watch over me,
Warning me they are waiting.
Spare me the desolation
Where something howls at the sky;
Where my lonely steps
Crush the paths I walk.
Where friends are empty echoes
Of memory.
Give me city lights in my night,
Solitude in a crowd,
Feeding all my senses:
Reverberating voices tripping over each other,
Smoky roastings tempting my tongue,
Blasts of heat and rot beneath,
Colors rioting beyond the rainbow.
Give me the city
Where wishing stars
And moonlight larger than the sun,
Play along the asphalt;
Where other walkers and I make music
Like jazz, dancing our variations,
Watching each other prance
In the glowing darkness;
Where I hear laughs of mirth,
Sobs of grief, hums of life.
