What I learned about evening
included flapping bats silhouetted
against last light, mosquitoes
stuck to skin, a human need for
liquor to lead one into night.
Evening reduced disappointment
into sour essences affecting flavor
of suppers, brightness of eyes,
ligaments of love. I learned
the ambience of graveyards becomes
buoyant at dusk: Ghosts get
in a good mood, old oaks cool down,
words on headstones recede. In
twilight I studied attitudes of awe
toward beautiful young women.
Gratefully, I took in breezes
of their perfumes, watched
the care with which they walked
in a shadowless hour.
