THE NAVY NIGHT BY FIONA CUMMINGS

THE NAVY NIGHT
BY FIONA CUMMINGS
In the still navy night
Shadows only lit by the moonlight
Stars shine like silver milk bottle tops
Mirrored shapes from raindrops
Smoke waving from dark towered chimneys
Reaching to the sky
I ask myself why?
Does water fall down and trees stretch up
Our gardens of life don’t sleep
From the blades of grass to the buttercup
In the still of the navy night
An owl is in flight
I guess for a midnight feast
Not afraid by the evening of the beast
Why do we fear the dark?
Is it the silence of the empty park?
Who is lurking behind the oak
A gulp almost as if to choke
A scream from the distant fox
Do the ghosts really come out by night?
With covered faces and pure white frocks
Rattling chains behind them
In the still of the navy night
You just want to cuddle down with the one you love
To be held tight
To feel safe
In a warm place
To see a familiar face
Not on your own walking home
Feeling chills right through your bones
In the still of the navy night
Why do our footsteps seam to echo?
Seeing our images in a puddle below
Scarily stepping over
What by night looks like filthy water
Tall by day but in the dark so much shorter
Strong in the morning but when evening comes
Too weak to fight or even run
In the still of the night
We shiver with fright
But it’s the same sky
The owls will still fly
The stars and moon will stay up there
But we walk freely without a care

© Fiona Cummings