creature

creature of the night

creature of habit

the air cools down

and the streetlights

begin their sweet hum

my tongue

curls around words

as my cigarette

burns and turns

and I learn

to swim in the silence

of a hot summer night

I swear

to myself

that I am myself

in the light of dark

hearing the angels sing

their lonely dream

of strangers

touching strangers

touching those yellow lines

in the middle of the street

soft as a lover would

if I should

turn my face to the still

and silent sky

I am

I will be

as I have always been

a creature

with a heart unfolding

across a map

made of stars.

06/17/2009 AKW