My free verse entry for Rattle’s November 2015 Ekphrasis contest. On Meghan Tutolo’s Young Night.
Hand in hand, we take it all in:
The babble of the river,
The whisper of the wind,
The fading scream of a police siren
Somewhere on the other side of town
Making a play for the night’s attention,
But the night only has eyes for us:
You and me,
Standing hand in hand,
Taking it all in.
I squeeze your hand,
You smile that I’m not going to smile smile
That you often wield on nights like this,
And I squeeze your hand,
Again.
The night is young
And ours,
All of it.