Still

Elizabeth Barry

 

There is a sort of peace at night -
I have discovered this –
As I walk alone, home.

 

The lights are dim within the buildings around me.

 

My steps fall on the pavement, each a soft
tap
tap
tap.

The wind blows, pushes my weight,
Pushes me aside.

I stumble.
I recover.

 

I look up at the stars –
Glowing white and gold and ice-blue,
 shimmering and winking for all to see.

 

My own mortality is thrown back at me.

 

I shudder.
I try not to remember it.
I am afraid again.

 

I close my eyes, stop.
The night overwhelms me again.
I open my eyes, faze out the stars.

 

The midnight velvet sky, a deep, rich
indigo-almost-black
surrounds, drowns me.

 

I drown beneath the cold surface of it.
I cannot think of anything but the silence, the cold, the dark
night.

 

I find peace again.
Hello, darkness, my old friend.

Euphemism Campus Box 4240 Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790-4240