Nighttime Solitude

 Nighttime Solitude

A lone peafowl pines plaintively across the darkened land

Perhaps to call a mate or warn of passing danger

But, I, a stranger do not understand

For there are stranger sounds here where the darkened blossoms fall 

A whispered footfall of a bushbuck shy,

Nearby an owl hoo hoos and

Who knows why for I

a stranger to this night song of the frogs that sing

And silent flight of night bird on the wing 

I am a stranger to this safety in the dark 

I blow the embers of the fire I made to keep the spark

To fan the flame beneath the last log’s coal to burn more brightly

For tomorrow

I return to home and 

Noisy cars and sirens nightly

And to sorrow

But for now

I’ll sit a little longer by this tiny hearth

The embers bright

Competing only with Moon’s dappled light upon the appled earth

And remember all the things I loved and love 

put away the sorrow and the sadness for tonight 

And ponder in the solitude that 

Nighttime isn’t dark

It’s just another kind of light