blue nights

"during the blue nights you think the end of day will never come" joan didion
for joan

blue nights melt into
dark nights of peace
taking forever

to find the light switch
the turning of light into dark
seamlessly cutting one

longitudinal laceration
skin, bone, muscle, marrow,
blood orange organs,

hairs not dancing--
dark nights of peace
seemingly taking forever;

when we sleep we forget
what endless days notate-
how souls slip into a deeper
listlessness, lowering the boon

breaking the surf, as falling
cormorants dive with more
than enough oxygen to last
out of the windy town

where purposes swirl around
country paths too muddy
the scream is muffled

paper mache' expresses
all that the epithelial cells cannot:
forever changing art, breathes
best on its own


Kate Lamberg
12/28/11