O Night Without A Moon

By John I. Blair

O Night without a moon,
When I step outside into your gloom
Until my eyes and brain adjust
I hesitate to leave the known,

Afraid of things I cannot see,
Forgetting for the moment
All my other senses
Still are with me.

Loosed from the easy dominance
Of sight, they bloom,
Ears receiving owl cries,
Nose the rose perfume,

Skin the splintered surface
Of the deck rail I am grasping;
And merely moments later
When my pupils dilate wide

A vision of the world appears
Combining sequined skies
And the afterglow produced
By its seven billion pulsing lives.

©2012 John I. Blair