Nocturne

night doesn’t fall
it happens at all once
from pink to blue to black
all of sudden, all around

it gets noisier
no birds
but crickets and cicadas
the dissonant hum of a generator
and distant cars

it gets brighter
street-lights blind, they blend with the stars
silhouettes in the windows lit from the inside
and smoke that joins the clouds.

it’s clean
nothing in excess, nothing to distract
the air is cool and calm
a single note solo echoing down the street

I get up to follow the sound
improvising my way until morning
blazing my own trail with no destination
since I got nowhere to be, I can take my sweet time
and soak it in
the damp sensations
of an evening after a misty rain
like a tall glass of sparkling water with
a slice of lemon on the rim, no ice

I’m walking over fallen leaves
and under flickering street-lights
and I bend with the trees
and move with the wind
and feel the rotation of the earth
on its axis and along its
journey around the sun

what is it like to be 1,000 feet tall?
I’m stepping over shining city skylines
and under rain-clouds and airplanes

I reach up and feel
the curve of the moon
under my arm and
hold my breath as I
dive into the Milky Way and
blink the stars from my eyes

on a gentle breeze
I float back down to earth and
follow an empty road to a
bench with a view
to wait for the silent sunrise.