I have kept company
By the pale before dawn
With transient raccoon,

I have seen the treeline
Burned alive by fireflies
Competing with the moon.

I have stopped fall of step
When a fawn's cautious eyes
Desired to cross my street,

I have come to believe
The songs of pine crickets
Provide the sweetest suite.

I have knelt by pond's edge
And surveyed its depths for
The newest crop of toads,

I have spent the evening
Lingering long past dusk
Walking the darkened roads.

I have listened to rain
Tumble leaf-to-leaf through
The sodden canopy,

I have pulled down my head
When wind-stirred acorns fell
Without concern for me.

I have broken bread with
Wayward fox whose grey coat
Slendered to winter lean,

I have searched long and far
Straining to see that which
Avoided being seen.

I have heard beetles cry
Afoul into the dark
Unwilling to be 'lone,

I have breathed in the night
And held it in my chest
Until the cold was gone.

I have stared down sleep as
There is no time better
When no time can be right

To turn to her broad face
And gaze away long hours
In courtship with the night.