nightlife

ride the night
    on fiery wings
    beyond the moon
    to the one you love

lie open-eyed
    clothed only
    in your nervous skin

feel the whisperings
    of the forest
    under a star-speckled
    summer sky

hear deer
    rustle through dry leaves
    on ingrained paths

breathe in the night air
    in deep drunken draughts

let your mind wander
    across oceans

be alive

---

night wind

strong armies of clouds
keep rushing by
    pursued
by fragmented Fiesta music
travelling on a fierce night wind
that polishes the twinkle
        of the evening star
tears at the corners
        of the house
rattles at doors and windows
blows my thoughts into wild spirals
jiggles the glass on the table
and makes me shudder
    in my patio chair

---

bedtime

sad I am
    and go to bed
lock my heart up
    from inside
in my soul
    I dim the light

so none sees
    so none hears
all the fury
    all the pain
struggling in my flood of tears

---

long night

she had promised
    he kept waiting

he knew it would be
    late
and kept himself busy
fighting against
    the lump he felt
    beginning to form
    in his chest
when long after midnight
the phone continued
not to ring

he thought of
how she would enjoy
exhilarating company
    and be happy

in the end
when her voice
    would come
across thousands of miles

exhausted yet pleased
he would swallow hard
and simply tell her
"I love you"

---

strange bird

I am the night owl
flapping its wings
stealthily through your dreams
with a soft feathery touch
you may remember
    you have imagined
like the figure at the end
    of the corridor
    whose face remains
    in the shadow

I am the sower of images
growing from the dark
touching your mind gently
tapping at forbidden doors
closed to the brighter hours

I am the prowler of twilight thoughts
that lend shapes
        to your hopes
        and fears and desires
living their lives
        in between

I am the night owl
that shudders
    and folds its wings quietly
when the sun rises
    always too soon
patiently waiting
until the day is done