empty nights

this was me in 2003. suddenly i remember that night, that palm tree again.

lost
________________________________________ ________


The palm tree
is gone
and the night air
hangs still.
if not for sodium glare and neon flicker
the stars would shine brighter.
Yesterday
it was full moon
somewhere far away
people craned their necks to see earth catch moon
and for one moment
the stars ruled the skies.
Tonight
the moon chases us
down slim tar roads
so bright that its reflected glory
shimmers and refracts off the window-glass.
Tonight
there will be no palm-fronds to
give voice to the passing breezes
they lie graceless
severed and withering
beneath denuded trunk and golden moon.