Rural Nocturn
In the country we see more
when it is the darkest.
Horses shine in the moonlight.
Stars bore holes through infinity.
When a full moon
leaps over the trees
the land ripples
with nocturnal exposures,
things unnoticed in daylight.
After a deep gloom
when nothing glows or shimmers
the dawn can look like a shipwreck,
as if a night sea had crashed
upon sleeping eyes.
Later, daylight struggles up its beach
shaking off a leaching blindness.
In the country,
just one star is enough to see by
we don't need a starfield,
but in the city
just one streetlight
can cast acres of shadow.
In the country
we look up to confirm where we are.
In the city
we look up and wonder if we are lost.
Copyright © Eric Ashford | Year Posted 2021
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