On a Hill above Your House

[vermontskies]

Down hill, I see a tangle of lights
populate the dark valley below.
The children's lights have long been out,
and the lovers' yearning hands
have touched the fond, familiar spots
like grazing animals at dusk
returning to the glowing barn.

You sleep below in the darkened house,
while up, mid-night, insomniac,
I wonder which might be your home
among the shadowy clumps below.
A car goes by -- an unstrung light
moving along a strip of road.
Above, the mirroring autumn sky
reflects a twinkling neighborhood.

By habit I look up to wish
on the first star I see.
But when my eye fastens on one
my mind is blank of anything
but the thought of you below
your long lean body limp with sleep.

- J. Alvarez