DAY 15: 3:43 am: I get up
go to the kitchen for a glass of
water, wait
I need to explain
I live on a hill looking down on the city
and dozens of apartment buildings
with maybe a couple hundred
windows with aluminum shutters
so I can monitor, if I want to,
creative activities on balconies
or see who's open for business.
I walk around the rooms in
my house in the dark,
I know them well,
I know them well,
but as I glance out
in the dead of a dead soul night
someone out there turns on a light
someone else is up
can't sleep, get a drink
use the john or just be
in the light in the middle
of the living night
of our dead
with our dread
a sight
another living being
unsettled
might be
might be
young or old
hungry or thirsty
I'll never know
but someone else
is out there.