bird song laced the particulate air
wind emptied the pines of their whistle
a cloud roamed aimless arriving somewhere
the creek lapped away at its trestles
church bells dormant hung in their towers
avenues basked in the neutral light
clock hands frozen implored the heavens
train tracks departed for nowhere on time
far off the mountains shed their glaciers
while farther yet the tides churned on
beneath a night sky punctured by stars
before the mute rise of another full moon
Peter Filkins has published five collections of poetry, most recently Water / Music. The recipient of Guggenheim, Fulbright, and NEH Public Scholars awards, he is at work on a biography of Ingeborg Bachmann for Yale University Press.
