Midnight in the Garden

Midnight in the Garden

I sit in the garden by candlelight

Listening to the sounds of the night

Water trickles over stones

While cars streak down the street

Peace, overcome by chaos

I hide under a canopy of trees, 

the largest is a silver maple 100 years old,

she has a gigantic trunk with deep roots 

and a broad span

The maple has taken a lot of hits, 

many branches have fallen yet new growth continues

I sip my wine and listen

There’s a rumble in the clouds and

lightning on the horizon

I feel sad for all the tragedy and madness in the world, the war in Ukraine, the Covid-19 Pandemic, illness and decay. 

I look at Willy Dog's stone, lying next to me, his resting place. I remember his loving excitement. Yet I feel a sense of the crypt, looking at his grave, the dread of death. 

Time waits for no one, I’m getting older, I can feel it in my bones

My candle shimmers in the night, cutting through the darkness, its light is golden. 

I think of the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, the high drama queen who came from nothing and became the most famous name in poetry

She is full of lust, independence and beauty, 

she is intimate with lovers in a gripping embrace.

Edna is the leader of the Bohemians swimming together, cozy in the hot tub, water dripping from their lips

I want to see water, the beach, the sun and the sand with my lover

But I am in the urban forest

under the canopy

in the center of the city, 

in my garden 

at night

I end my romance

with this moment

I blow out the candle

go inside and 

then it begins

to rain

--by Michael Hooper, May 18, 2022