At midnight in between rain,
cats pass silently back and forth
on the prowl in empty streets
in the dim lamplight beneath
the attentive bare-branched owl
and the blank page of a moonless night;
time to embrace the all-encompassing

little we know and much less
than what we think we know
which teases us with the ever-present
mystery of our brief existence
as the uncanny beauty
of some old hymn tune defeats
our lingering doubts and makes us stronger.