Small Town Rainy Night
A warm November evening –
Rain drizzled roads
Streetlights trying through fog
The vital roar of the river behind me.
Lonely footsteps trod back
From the general store
Where the town’s sole neon light
And pinball machine
Awaken the otherwise drowsy street.
The in-between-ness –
Leaves all gone
Snow not yet come,
All set in a mood of reflection.
The melancholy of the night.
From my window,
The hum of a truck
Getting closer, closer,
Drowns the night sounds
The wrenching gears
cry out as it hugs the curve,
Then puffs up the hill, away.
Silence returns.
Then the night sounds
Again, reach my ears;
Rushing water,
A fog-shrouded moan,
Dribbles of rain.
A small mew at my window.
My cat comes home.
Copyright w.c. kasten, 1976, all rights reserved
Written in Frankfort, Maine
Dr. Wendy C. Kasten, Writer 