Poem: Small Town Rainy Night

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