Night and Day

Night closes in
stillness falls
The cold dark
breathes its moment
like faded machine learning
finite state transduction
in an unbroken chain
winding its way toward dawn

All who wander are not lost
and we come to a place
a middle ground between light, and shadow
where fate weaves together
the muses sing in alternate voice
and the self ceases,
dispossessed

We’ll make it
across the finish line
and space blanket warm
Dawn will come
We’ll be alone together
We’ll see if we’re that strong
We’re all in it together
We all die alone

The wind blows across East L.A.
Morning storms come
purple and gray
in from Santa Ana
and barrel across the bay

In half deserted streets
and muttering retreats
We tell ourselves stories
to teach
to cherish
to escape our geometry
untie world knot
and tie our own

Once loved —

We smile and the coming storm
we stand arm in arm
alongside an underworld spy
or the wife of a close friend
beneath the eave
sheltered from
wind driven rain
beneath
a faded sun

Disparate
the world bends time
to create gravity
and the trees
talk to each other

The blank page changes
by the black against the white

Night against day
Day against night

Remain in light