Good Reading: Sounds in the Night

Sounds in the Night

A train whistle blows in the distance,

I pause and strain to listen,

a rumble of wheels on the tracks,

something about it makes me relax.

A loudspeaker blares in a distant park,

sirens cause the dogs to bark.

The scream of a cat caught in a fight,

all pierce the calm of the night.

Wind blowing through the trees,

giving a dead limb a heave.

Sounds in the night can be such a delight,

until we close our doors and windows tight.

Traffic passing on a nearby street,

padding of a runner’s feet,

are sounds in the early night,

then quiet until morning light.

Crickets singing into the evening,

with rhythm that seems to have meaning.

We miss so much due to the fear of others,

how great it would be to live like brothers.

Sounds in the night can give a chill,

the howling of coyotes up on the hill,

or a small animal fighting for his life,

in a world full of envy and strife.

Sounds in the night need not bring us fear,

strange sounds are not always as they appear.

Most are easily explained if we stop a while,

listen, and accept the sounds with a smile.

From the book;

Georgia

in My Pocket:

Poems and stories of my home state