A cool breeze

A cool breeze

Whispers through the willows

The candle flame flickers

In a lantern on the patio

As a moth flies by

The moon disappears

For a moment

In a cloud roll

As a night owl cries

Marking time

In the darkness

Waiting for the sound

Of a field mouse

To break the spell

Holding court

In the treeline

Massed ranks of Cicadas

Sing for survival

With the belief of

Evangelical revivalists

Keeping their dream

Alive

Until they pause

Silence is a weapon

Heavily weighted

With persecution

As an expectation

Romance is a distant

Thunder

A discontented rumble

After midnight

And the candle glows

In amber

Through the gloom

Of a bottomless glass

As the approach

Of dawn

Brings its own

Practiced chorus

To the rescue

Of another

Lost soul.