Late August

“Some days in late August at home are like this, the air thin and eager like this, with something in it sad and nostalgic and familiar… Man the sum of his climactic experiences… the sum of what you have… carried tediously to an unvarying nil… stalemate of dust and desire.” from The sound and Fury by William Faulkner…

Interesting that I should remember that passage just now as the darkness of an August night at home brings with it thoughts and memories in a melancholic mist filling my head. Not far off will be the celebration of another year of my existence, one I hope to keep limited to a few glasses of Irish whiskey, a playlist of decades old ballads and perhaps a fine slab of burnt beef. In the past year the days have seemed to grow longer and more tiresome with fewer shining lights and more oppressive clouds obscuring and dulling the brilliance that was promised with the rising sun. I suppose that’s the price one pays for choices made and paths taken… seemingly to have resulted in the dust and desire instead of something much more rewarding...

Come back to me

In the dark of the night alone,

Wanting, wishing… could you join me - here by my side?

Would you let me take your hand in mine?

Can you feel what I do just from my touch?

You are my savior, my muse, my love, my friend

You take the darkness from my soul, the tension from my being

You give me solace just by your glance, your smile

Your presence wraps around me like a fine down comforter

Memories of your soft touch, your sweet delicate scent envelope me

I want to touch your mind, your soul like you have touched mine

To whisper the words, to be the music, to be the gentle rain

That reaches deep inside of you the way you have done to me

Come back to me, come sit beside me

Let me take your hand in mine

In the dark of the night alone

I die again…

August night

The sky is dark with the night coming on quickly
The summer sunset is blocked by an invading cloud mass
Cracking and rolling across the sky the thunder announces the storm's presence
Accentuated by the flashes of electric blue randomly igniting the sky here and there
Reaching to ground in violent streaks of light and power
As the low guttural sounds crack and rumble the drops begin to fall
Slowly at first then in a torrent seemingly to escape the unsettled sky
To seek the apparent safety of the earth
Filling the gutters from the roof tops to finally melt away into the parched ground
Or drain from the hardened surfaces in panicked rivulets
The air is cold as it moves through the open front windows
Fresh, filled with the smell of the earth and electrified air
As quickly as the tempest erupted it subsides
The occasional roar has diminished to a quieted din off in the distance
Leaving behind a cool, fresh darkness meant for sleeping...

Spring Evening

Sitting out on the front porch gathering in the spring evening

The suns nearly down and the powdery blue sky begins to dim

There’s a slight caress of cool refreshing air helping to bring on the night

The cat daintily steps through spring’s promising foliage

Crouching now and then to pounce on an invisible foe

By now the sky has deepened in color

Beginning to reveal widely scattered muted points of light

The outline of the trees against the sky disappears

Night has arrived in its fullness

Cloaking the earth in serene shades of black

Here and there the hushed stars of a few moments ago surge in intensity

It is their sky tonight, the moon hidden away in the shadow of the earth

Long before their full presence can be seen time has grown short

Tomorrow pushes me from my front row seat

Perhaps I’ll see the full display another night…

Tomorrow is Monday

Monday follows all too quickly... the dark of the night weighs heavy as the sounds of civilization give way to natures song, the crickets n frogs in distant ponds begin to over shadow the traffic, the turned down sheets beckon with a smooth cool escape from the day's chaos, a respite in preparation for the new day to come, take me away - away to my dreams where I can reside for all too short a time, give me hope and strength to face the new day, let me re-charge wrapped in the darkness and the fresh and calm night air, cause tomorrow is MONDAY----- ACK!!!!!!