Black Nights

By John I. Blair

Standing lightless in my house,
Staring out the window
Still I can’t think how it felt
To be a pioneer, alone
When this was wild.

On clouded nights,
With moon and stars eclipsed
And campfire kept,
Blackness must have
Seemed so deep.

No city glow,
No neighbor’s lamp,
No aircraft track,
No candles, cars, or trains –
The belly of the beast.

How solacing it might have been
At least to glimpse a firefly’s wink
Along a prairie creek,
So like to home; and now
They too are nearly gone.

©2006 John I. Blair