Against the Urban Night
        for Billy Clem

Remember from routes tangled now the precise
slant of light on the pavement, acres of power
generators for probably seven states, powder-blue
petroleum tanks, flares, and all the turns that might
have gone the other way. Because we have two stories
both true, will it help if we remember this road?

An hour later, wooded country begins to appear,
late transformation marked at night by darker air,
suddenly still. Fewer lights on the side of the road
signal private victories won against public darkness,
places we once lived, warily though not in despair.

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Copyright © 2014 Jane Hoogestraat All rights reserved
from Border States
BkMk Books
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission