lamplit

this evening, I sat by an open window

 

and read till the light was gone and the book

 

was no more than a part of the darkness

 

I could easily have switched on a lamp

 

but I wanted to ride the day down into night

 

to sit alone, and smooth the unreadable page

 

with the pale gray ghost of my hand

 

Ted Kooser

 

seen in the crepuscule

on the streets where I live.

 

Done