What Has The Night To Do With Sleep? Poem by Rita Cerniglia

Heart-Heavy clouds lumber low in the sky.
Black is the dress of the evening.
A flock of night swallows pass over my sky.
One I don't know I hear grieving.
Lights flicker on, they brighten, and pale.
I watch till the last one is gone.
The silence is certain, and final, and deep.
What has the night to do with sleep?

Chill-tinted air blankets each breath I take.
Black is the dress of the evening.
The dark is offended by each noise I make.
One I don't know I hear weeping.
Stars flicker on, they brighten, and pale.
I watch till the last one is gone.
The silence is certain, and final, and deep.
What has the night to do with sleep?

Lonesome cats cry for what cats only know.
The Earth pirouettes on the nothing below.
There's voices I hear in the breezes that blow
and I know the secrets they're keeping.
Lives flicker on, they brighten, and pale -
but I will keep vigil till dawn.
The silence is certain, and final, and deep.
What has the night to do with sleep?