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Saturday, December 24, 2016

Nighttime...


Nighttime…

Nighttime, I am alone
In the desert,
Moon, sand, stars,
My only companions.
Clouds have forsaken this land.
The sky, a wanderer, has left his staff behind.
Knees lower to kiss the dirt floor,
Heels press into haunches,
No pain. The world outside
Blinks confusedly at the present,
Contends with the future,
Disavows the past.
Inside this cave,
Bread, water, salt
Keep me alive. The wind
Feeds my spirit.

Originally published in The Cannon’s Mouth, Issue 60 (June 2016), page 66



Phoenix, Arizona desert skyline at night

2 comments:

  1. Photo courtesy of Alan Stark

    Photo link:

    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phoenix_Skyline_from_South_Mountain_at_Night.2010.jpg

    Gonzalinho

    ReplyDelete
  2. Longer version of this poem:

    Nighttime…

    Nighttime, I am alone
    In the desert,
    Moon, sand, stars,
    My only companions.
    Clouds have forsaken this land.
    Distant tribes, the cirrus and the cumulus,
    Pasture elsewhere.
    The sky, a wanderer, has left his staff behind.
    Knees lower to kiss the dirt floor,
    Heels press into haunches,
    No pain. The outside world,
    Persistent as foraging field mice,
    Blinks confusedly at the present.
    Disavowing the past,
    History stands behind
    A tall black rostrum.
    Wrestling with the future,
    A fugitive struggles, trapped by
    Four walls in a dream.
    Inside this cave,
    Bread, water, salt
    Keep me alive. The wind
    Feeds my spirit.

    Gonzalinho

    ReplyDelete