Night Running

I asked my friend (yes, the same one who suggested that I write a poem on penguins) for inspiration and he said I should write a poem on night running. I must applaud this idea, although night writing seems to be a less successful endeavor for me. Most of my recent poems have been in free verse and this is in rhythm so it's a bit odd-sounding to me but... oh well.

I'm leaving the state and, for some of the summer, the continent, so I cannot promise any poems in the next two months. HOWEVER, I will certainly try to get around to writing in Spain and hopefully by the time I get back I will have a significant amount to post all together at the end of summer.

Night Running
It's such perfect weather, the air still and dry
A brilliant moon rises in the cloudless sky
There are no great winds, but a delicate breeze
Floats by, barely noticed, hiding between trees
As I run alone at the end of twilight
The scene's indistinct, but with speckles of light
A couple of lamps, a bedroom, and some stars
The occasional headlights of one or two cars
But shh! Beyond that it's all dark shades of grey
The silence and darkness veil all that is day
Protected suburban folk just cannot bear
Such unsafe practice times-- "You'll get hurt! Beware!"
But I in my old shoes and thin cotton tee
Can finally taste what it is to be free
In the still of the night, feeling one with the wind
Free from all that I've worried and all I have sinned
Not quite running away, but to get it all out
In lieu of a punch or a rage or a shout
For here, it is silent, just me and my soul
And finding wherever, my singular goal
And though I do not for an instant stand still
I find clarity in each grueling uphill
A run though the city while it itself sleeps
My stresses and worries and secrets, it keeps
And I, without judgment or fear or distrust
Find peace in running through an urban world's dust

You

"Will you miss me?"

You?
You who put me through so much?
You who always talked and rarely listened?
You who kept me up past any reasonable hour?
You with whom I have so little in common?
You who, within yourself, had enough pessimism and stress for the both of us?
You who never held yourself accountable for your problems?
You obsessive, uncultured pessimist, you
You have the nerve to ask me if I will miss you?

Yes I will, and more than you can possibly fathom
I'll miss your constant amazement at those little things that I ignore
I'll miss your crazy obsessions
I'll miss being able to call you about anything and know you have an answer
I'll miss hearing your name and smiling because nobody realizes someone so outrageous
Can also be so wonderful
I'll miss your ability to forgive--good heavens how I've needed your forgiveness
I'll miss your impeccable memory
I'll miss how you could see into people
You may never admit it, even to yourself, but boy could you see straight to the heart of a person
And I'll miss how, in understanding people, you always failed to notice the outside layers
I'll miss your you, amigo
Yes that's it
The rest is fluff
That's all there is to it, amigo, I'll miss your you.
My you?
Your you.

Penguins

I know this looks long but the lines are like 2 words long so calm down.

I was running low on ideas. You knew a poem called "Penguins" would have to start with an excuse like that. I have a nice little file on my computer of incomplete poems and it's growing...
Anyway I asked a friend for inspiration last night and this is what I got.

Penguins
Whoosh
WHOOSH
Antarctic wind

Whoosh
Whooooooooooosh

Silence

Pristine brilliance
And the perfect place
To contemplate
Without distraction
Or interference
Or noise
If only...

BRRRRRRRRRR
No room for thought
~chill~
As a frozen wind WHOOSHes the thoughts right out of me

Whoooooooooosh

Silence

Back home, they say I'm white as snow
Here? My skin is pink
No, not pale pink
Pomegranite pink

It's a little...
C-
C-
C-c-collllllllllld

WHOOSH

Silence

And then

Pit
Pat
Pitter patter
Where?

Silence

P-patter
Do you hear it?
P-pit pat
But where?
How could I miss anything in this
Monochromatic world?

WHOOSH
Maybe that way
Silence
I could just be hearing things

Pitter
Pitter pat pitter pat pitter pat
Over the hill!
Not so flat after all
Little specks of pepper
In this life-sized salt shaker
WHOOSH
And it's really shaking
Powder blowing everywhere
But
In the distance

Patterpatterpatterpatter
Can you hear them?
They don't try to hide
They couldn't if they tried
But, accepting their unique circumstance,
Pit pat

All together
Mammas and babies
And even those rebellious teenagers
Not so rebellious after all
Pittering, pattering
Each with his own set of steps
Of footprints
Each helping his neighbor
...If nomads can have neighbors...

And they come closer
The adorable mascots of millions
Selling earrings, shirts, socks
Mascots of sports teams, publishers, cookies, even tuxedos
Subjects of hundreds of movies
And yet
Pit
Pat
Pit
There they go
A colony of them
Perhaps boastful, certainly proud
Passing nonchalantly
Pitter patter
Pitter patter

Never surprised, never discontented
And though I am numb
Completely comfortable
At peace
With each other
With the snow
With the wind

Whoosh
They pass

Silence

Later June

50th post!

So the rest of the country is already sick of summer and heat and dead grass but around here it's just divine. It still rains one or two days a week, but on the other hand it keeps the flowers and grass looking pretty and nobody can whine about the warmth of those days that are sunny.

I must apologize for not writing in quite a while, and I'd like to be able to say that I'll write much more during the summer because I have time, but as a matter of fact I leave this week and won't be back until late August. I will, however, try to write more this week.

Later June
These days the sun gets up at five
And doesn't sleep til ten
And all the blue jays come alive
Waking me up with them

It's not too hot, but warm enough
To lay out in the grass
These are the days of clouds like fluff
And morning runs so fast

When each moment is seen as spare
And each day thought as free
Yes, free to go quite anywhere
It's all just fine with me

The barefoot days of later June
No fears and no regrets
From early dawn to sunny noon
And right 'til the sun sets

And even when it does go down
Those few hours we call night
We'll find a park just out of town
And stay up 'til it's light

Bikini days? Time to sunbathe?
It's just not quite that hot
Or summer flings, hormones ablaze?
Lo siento, I think not

And even with nothing to do
And with friends far away
I've something to look forward to
Each early summer day

Oh picnics and oh swimming pools
Oh wishes youth won't end
Oh final moments without rules
Oh I'll miss this, my friend