I stepped out into the screened porch
Bare feet feeling the deep chill of concrete.
This was not a new experience for me
Yet this night promised something different.
Gone was the glow of the moon shining through leaves
Of the tree which grew outside my porch bedroom,
Then through the screen leaving ripples of moonlight
Washing across my corner bed as in previous nights.
Gone too were the merry chirps of crickets
Each calling out to the others
Hoping to hear another cricket’s response
So that each is assured of his place in the colony.
Rather this evening had a disquieting absence
Of the usual sights and sounds with which I was familiar;
Instead I heard the low moan of the wind in the trees
And the slight crackle of the branches as they moved.
Crawling into my bed always called for a steeled will,
The sheets feeling ice cold as I tucked myself in them;
Yet I knew the routine and that soon the warmth of my body
Would warm my cocoon of blankets covering a feather bed.
Ah yes the warmth was already noticeable
And my tired muscles began to relax each in its own time
As now those random waves of thought
Ebbed and flowed through my mind until I slept.
Sleep, warm beautiful mind-mending sleep.
My mind still wandering in dreams now to rouse –
And what is this white blanket spread over my bed
By caring hands sometime at night while I dreamed?
Indeed! Warm in my cocoon and still dry within
A blanket of winter snow had sifted through the screen
Laying softly across my bed to the floor beside,
The air crisp and cold in my nose as I inhaled.
Perhaps it’s time to come inside to sleep
Suggested my mother as I dashed across the floor
And into the door shivering half naked by the heat stove.
Ah yes, another childhood memory as now I reminisce.
