> off nights

long nights
when I don't sleep

I slip from bed

and walk softly

to my balcony

                          

there, alone

in the deep
clear silence

of morning

I count the lights

that linger

between me

and the base

of the foothills

a short mile away

sometimes

there are

as many as forty-three

other times

as few as thirty-two

it matters

little to me 

so long as

the mountains can bear 

the stars I can't count

-dp-

7-17-16