night
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5th Ave., February
New York City,held tonight in winter's fat paws,going nowhere. The lions freeze solidon the library steps. Cats breath rises from street grates,wraps in ice each twig,car antennae,pigeon feather,rat's tail. Text and image © 2014 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading
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Winter Moon
Jet-black branchesframe a round, cream moon,soon to set. Earlierwhen I first shuffled into the kitchen– to feed the cats, to start the coffee–the moon rode above the trees,a perfect circle of frozen white. It shifts coloras it nears… Continue reading
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Willy and Romeo
My cats are clothed in night.In darkness they disappear. Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading
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The Sweet Night
Morning has broken,shattering the sweet peace of night,its shards littering my bedspread, the bathroom floor, the kitchen counter. I'm sad to see morning, scattered in disarray, coming into clearer focus as light skulks about. Ah,… Continue reading
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For Those Who Rise at Night
I rise at night,wander empty rooms–the cats remain asleep at the foot of the bed,black fur blending to darkness. I listen for the voice–listen in vainfor the voice I knowcan shake me,awaken meto freedom. Perhaps tomorrow nightI will rise againand… Continue reading
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Lily of the Valley
Oh, lily of the valley(a valley fraught with fears),you grow so purely fragiledrenched with the storm of tears. Your bells ring sweet and simple,hung from your towers of green,and promise of a futureof peace, as yet unseen. Oh, lily of… Continue reading
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To Choose Tranquility
3:00 AM.Why am I awake?Odd dreams, perhaps? I scan myself: Seems nothing troubles the mind. A slight shift eases an ache in my back. Work is hours away. I find no logic for disturbance. So I tell myself: Enjoy the moment. Make… Continue reading
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Michigan Trees, 1
All night longthe wind blows,incessant,insistent. I look out my windowat the black massesof Michigan's tall treetopswaltzing with the starlit sky beyond. Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading
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Prayer at Bedtime
Grant me a dreamless night,without image and emotion,a night of simple, vacant rest,a night of blessed blankness. Quiet my questioning, processing, remembering, striving mind. Tonight, let me sleep empty,like a desert calm beneath the waning moon. Text and image ©… Continue reading
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Sleep
Sleep (that buoyant sea) wants me.Who am I to deny her?I close my eyesand she washes over me–within seconds I am borne away,lifted and rocked on her tide–away, away into the night… Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries.… Continue reading