Monday, February 4, 2008

Sheridan Ave., 1:00 a.m.

Spirit of the heavens,
Out of the quiet urban night
a pinprick of sound in fognight
A little louder now, a little clearer,
A siren
Police, fire, ambulance?
Seems to be fire engines,maybe two or three...
Louder now, there are ambulances following
and maybe a chief's car.
The crescendo moves from forte to sforzando!
They are just a block or two away.
An elderly man walking across the street covers his ears.
Spirit of earth,
I have heard this crescendo of alarm several times a night
and still I tense up and pray to you.
I wish no ill on anyone else in this city
But please, let this racing, chasing sound keep going.
Let me hear its diminuendo.
Don't let it abruptly halt.
Let it fade.
God of foggy city nights,
Let it fade.

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