Windy Nook

Illustration by Michael HartleySo quiet here in darkness, standing high
Above Tyne's silent yards, searching to trace
Crane silhouettes against the sky
And sensing vastness in the depths of space.

A fine rain settles on the roofs below,
Where town shuts out the night with curtains drawn,
And only lines of street lights glow
To map odd fragments of its skeleton.

Night's creatures spin and swirl, drawing my eye
From town's decay to catch their circling flight
Into a spangled velvet sky
To consummate and celebrate the night,

Knowing that soon our darkness must give way
To grey dawn infiltrating to embrace
The bleak reality of day,
Denying us the mystery of space.

A mystery that is an endless rain
Of energy attempting to disperse,
Held fast in the unyielding frame
Of time, the boundary of Universe.

A mystery that tempts my aching mind
To climb beyond these streets where I took form,
Beyond the thinking of my kind,
To follow instinct with the rising swarm.