The bluish, pale
face of the house
rises above me
like a wall of ice

and the distant,
solitary
barking of an owl
floats toward me.

I half close my eyes.
Over the damp
dark of the garden
flowers swing
back and forth
like small balloons.

The solemn trees,
each buried in a cloud of leaves,
seem lost in sleep.

It is late.
I lie in the grass,
smoking,
feeling at ease,
pretending the end
will be like this.

Moonlight
falls on my flesh.
A breeze
circles my wrist.

I drift.
I shiver.
I know that soon
the day will come
to wash away the moon’s
white stain,

that I shall walk
in the morning sun
invisible
as anyone.