One Of Those Nights

Sometimes there are those nights,

you know,

when the moon wears a watery halo

and the sea seems to be sewn into the sky;

grey and white waves

sailing and ripping through the dark,

lined in silver.

Gliding and leaving no mark.

* 

These are the nights that make me feel

lucky.

You know,

The kind of lucky you feel when

you’ve been given all of what you don’t think you deserve.

 *

I have a boy who loves me.

Another heart to share this night with.

You know,

the kind of heart that beats with my own;

I know he’s awake somewhere,

looking up at the purple sky,

breathing in the universe.

I know,

because I feel his eyes on my patch of sky;

He is in my atmosphere.

 *

And I know this because

I wasn’t always so lucky:

I tried to live in my mother’s shadow.

You know,

we all do it.

But she wasn’t one to think about the stars.

Her shadow broke mine

and left it behind;

a pulsating, live thing.

A child’s heart that never was young.

 *

I have a sister I adore;

she’s beginning to expand and stretch

Mind and body and soul;

you know,

The kind of growing up we all have to do.

She notices the night sky

but says nothing.

Maybe it makes her think of dreams

she thinks she’s too young to have;

stolen kisses and whispers and such.

What do I know of a 16 year olds thoughts?

* 

I know my sky,

dotted through with silver points.

I know the tingling scent of jasmine;

I feel the goose bumps that line my bare arms;

I hear the faint chirps of resilient crickets,

and I see the wings on my back.

I can breathe it all,

in, out, in, out;

He is the universe.

Eternally mine.

*