She moves through a door
onto the balcony and leans
on the railing into the dark
listening for the waves’
growling rush along the shore.
Light from inside drapes her
for a moment in a lonely silence
like a figure in a painting
by Edward Hopper.
He remembers a dream
he had awoken from years ago:
he had stepped through a door
at night into someone’s backyard,
blurred lights festooned the trees
above the heads of vague people
chatting on the lawn. He needed
to retrieve her and take her
home, but the lights dimmed
further, and the people vanished
like small talk into the dark
and then he woke and sensed
like now the vast emptiness
between them grow.
(July 8, 2013)
