Night Games

A response to Robert Frost�s �Acquainted With the Night�

4 a.m. is when the wolves come to play

tag with the buildings.

Running through alley ways, turning

over trash cans; taking back

what once belonged to them. Dancing

with compassionate mothers as the shadows

 

of their drunken babies disappear into the shadowy

darkness of dumpsters. Never to play

with blocks or have a Father-Daughter dance.

Not knowing what it means to build

a future. The young wolves will never understand how mothers can turn their backs

on such helpless creatures. They watch as bodies turn

 

into souls and float away, just before the turning

gears of the dump truck pour them into its shadowy

interior. The Panther leaps off his billboard onto the back

of an all night Raver. Playing

with her senses before building

a pile of small bones. He dances

 

through the streets looking for the dancing

drunks. Hoping to score another meal before turning

In for the morning. The bum curls by his steam vent building

his home from the cement up. He ducks into the shadows

when gangsters roll past playing

music that drowns out the natural beat of the city. Back

 

allies become tattoo parlors where gangs ink their backs.

Showing their devotion to the group. Wolves step

to a rhythm playing

in subway stations. They leap over turn

stiles and lurk in the shadows

knowing not to disturb the man as he builds

 

the beat up within his building,

and body. Yellow eyes spot the blind drummers back,

a brave pup leaves his shadowy

hiding place and dances

before the man. Turning

his drumsticks, he continues to play.

 

As the wolves Dance out of the shadows

they turn back

into the building that surrounds this man as he plays.