OMG, YOUR ALIVE!

I miss you!

OMG, YOUR ALIVE!

I miss you!

tonight the August air is still
though predictably heavy with
humidity
that’s the way it is the south;
in the summer

the moon is full and brilliant in the north sky
I’m sitting in the middle of my backyard
sipping a glass of wine,
enjoying the day’s last cigarette
and I am at peace

all around me the night is teaming with life
a few lingering fireflies dance under the
wisteria canopy
that hangs from the Bradford Pear,
just this side of the back fence

tree frogs are calling out to
one-another
the bull frogs loudly proclaim
their presence
crickets and even locust
scream for their recognition
a coyote howls in the distance
and now, that little rat terrier next door
is joining in (as usual)
I genuinely hate that mutt
with his four inch legs and
Napoleonic complex, but tonight,
I am at peace

in among the Pin Oaks next to the run-off creek
that borders me to the west,
on a crooked branch of the lone
hickory tree, sits my bi-weekly visitor
his magnificent silhouette is easy to spot
with the backdrop of the bright sky
he is rather large and being very vocal tonight
“who…who…whooowoooooo, who...who…whooowoooooo” he calls
and we wait,
moments later, from the far off distance
the exact call returns
and we are both
at peace

as menacing as he may seem
to the rabbit that lives here,
seemingly to feed exclusively off of my
tulip bulbs,
and the squirrels that remain hidden
in the trees around him
I find a comfort in his attendance

unlike the cat that just scurried into the bushes
at the corner of my house,
I look forward to seeing him
I usually talk to him, but tonight,
I simply sit here
with my feet wet from the dew that clings
to the narrow blades of grass that are
trying to tickle my ankles
the same grass that is home to the
spiders and worms, the ants and toads,
the occasional box turtle and snake
I just sit here and listen and
I am at peace

the night is blaring, but
there are no sirens
no cars passing by
filled with people too busy
to actually enjoy themselves
no children playing
no screams of fear
just me
and the night
full of activity
and it is exquisite

I apologize;
I thought for a moment tonight
I would write a poem
a poem about those arms, her arms,
the ones that hold me gently
when I need it
and firmly when I don’t realize
I need that too

it was going to be
beautiful
it would have been
had she existed,
and God knows
we all could use a bit
more beauty,
but as I sit here rapt
by the din of my surroundings
the arms have been replaced
by something unexpected
and I am at peace knowing that
in the shadows of this crystal moon,
lies enough beauty
to generate the jealousy
of a thousand suns



kc `11