THIS QUIET NIGHT
By Daniel Thompson
This quiet night
And the murdering ant
An army on the sidewalk moves
Carrying its starlit children’s game
This wax moon night the rabbit runs
His white tail bobbing as he weaves
Through backyards to the black, black trees
Suddenly a voice, cat or child, troubles the silence
O down these streets where sleeping dogmas lie
Lo, the flickering lamplight moth shadow boxes with the wind
As my friend, the talker, talks; widening the hole in his shoe
Till all his words arrive in time,
Bloodshot, in the gunsight of dawn
That quiet night the dark cargo of my heart
Pitched on the green wave and broke…
Copyright Homeless Grapevine , Issue #30, Cleveland, OH