Inspired by a line from Weldon Kees’s “Five Villanelles” —

“We must remain until the roof falls in.”

LIGHTS OUT

The darkness invites us to stretch and dawdle, and we

do, pouring more wine, telling more tales. We must

be tired, but we stretch, pretend otherwise, remain

hunched beside our ebbing campfire, until

at last our yawns can’t be denied, or the

fatigue seeping into muscles. No roof

overhead; no matter, we’re all in.