Sunday, March 29, 2009

The girl in red danced barefoot, but I was barely there

At 11:30 pm I got dressed and went for a walk
Up and down the empty streets
and to a park

A park full of kids during the day
but this night just one
As I found a spot on the swing set

Up and down and Up and down
I could not think of anything else
The black sky, the wood chips
I went and lost myself in the motion

Here at night, at no mans hour
I swung to my hearts content
Because during the day
It just wasn't right for a person my age
to do so

Higher and higher, but the eventual sad ending to every swing
is a final rest at the lowest point
Some take a leap for a moment of flight
I dug my heels and gave up

Back to earth, I continued on
Still not ready to come home
Further up into darkness and a quiet neighborhood
down a road with no streetlamps
(It's so much better without the orange glow)
I wished every night felt so natural

Then like a beacon on a hill
a house with life
With cars all around
and lights on inside
Now midnight, I studied a mite closer

I saw happy people gathered around a kitchen counter
drinking and talking and being humanity
and in the living room
they spun together, dancing
A lively waltz at 12:23

A beautiful spectacle if I ever saw one
Men and women twirled round each other
like tiny, two-horse carousels
And I peered in from the cool dark street
Gathered myself
and finally walked home
With a finger nail's worth of moonlight
to guide my way