The Momentary Fear That Follows

Barred Owl

Synaptic

James Hart 

At times the darkness is a tranquil apse,
but tonight I hear a startled rabbit leap
just as something furtive slips and snaps
me from my late starlit thought of sleep,
and though neither rude intruder nor agile
rabbit were even seen by me, I can’t tell
myself there’s nothing here to fear as I pull
dark pockets closer on my frayed coat as well.

Prowling wile and sleek correspondences
seem more attractive to us than chance,
as if we lure the predator that hunts us
in the sound that snaps us from a trance
and awakens our night’s slight shiverings
in sleepless owls ruffling their heavy wings.


(Poem from an unpublished manuscript
entitled Somewhere West of Never)