THE SQUARE AT NIGHT
The following is poem number 15 of 2009’s NaPoWriMo – 30 poems in 30 days during the month of April. The original prompt was, “Jack”. James Tate’s THE SQUARE AT DAWN, from his short collection, The Torches by Unicorn Press, copyright 1968 and 1971, inspired the title.
THE SQUARE AT NIGHT
Jack swore the only way to see the stars
was to spend the night in Schott’s alone
at the end of the bar, leave before close
for the long walk, stop halfway at a bench
on the Square near the bust of city fathers.
There he’d curl beneath the sports page,
doze, dream then wake before light
punched out the dark. The sky still full
of milky night, the stars would glow,
bow off stage for blurred brows
that cheered them home.
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Tags: April Fools, NaPoWriMo 2009, national poetry writing month
