Goodnight Moon

Evening tiptoes away on slippered feet Houses up and down the street are silhouettes The faint sound of a train whistles through the air leaving a melancholy soliloquy resounding through the night A table cleared of all traces of supper, is now set for breakfast Doors are locked, and a screen has been put across the glowing embers The two Labradors, in deep slumber, are curled in baskets by the back door The house settles, like arthritic old bones and the momentum of a busy day winds itself down Beyond the kitchen door, a garden is washed white by the moonlight A mantel clock is ticking, and the refrigerator is humming with comfortable familiarity The moon slowly makes a shadowy passage through the windows of each room as it puts the house to bed... I quietly head up the stairs, reluctant to let these parting moments slip away Crawling between the cool sheets, I snuggle my head on the softness of my good fortune In the long silent moments before I fall asleep my drowsy eyes turn to wander where window gazing finds the harvest moon rifting in the darkness... Against the moonlight, a magnolia branch is stenciled black and keen Three stars are tangled in the topmost bough... My eyes and I say goodnight to the moon.... and thank you to the stars..... And today becomes tomorrow....