An Alchemy of Words

into the night

"into the night"

Walked out into the night,

to the geese at High Park

and I stood there, silent

and staring at the

limp of one.

It could have eased its pain

in water

or been powerful in air yet

it stood on frozen mud,

a single foot from water,

and chose, somehow, to limp.

Walked out into the night

to a parking lot along a lakeshore

made for lovers

and I saw the sports cars,

the executive Oldsmobiles,

the rusted-out, home-painted vans.

I glanced into each one as I passed,

ephemeral in the cold.

All I saw were aging men

and boys even younger than myself,

each of them alone behind the glass,

staring out over black water,

shoulders bent with tears.

Walked out into the night

to find a freeway abandoned,

left dead for the weekend,

pyloned off...

For a moment I walked its dotted lines

before slipping self-consciously aside

to let the ghosts

of traffic

pass.