Night time tales

I wake up with a start

My heart is beating fast   

The clock strikes ‘one’

But no revelers out for fun…

I look at the North star

That seems so very far –

Then, in the stillness of the night

When all is calm and quiet

An owl softly hoots

A rat swiftly scoots

A vagrant totters to his makeshift bed

His eyes are still bloodshot and red..

The crickets in the pond

Startled by a loud horn

Start their noisy song

To which the frogs respond

By a chorus swift and strong..

Slowly the sounds fade

And all is again calm

Which acts on me like a balm

For I return now to rest

With serenity in my chest…