Night Windows (an Ekphrastic Poem)

 

Night Windows

It’s quiet now. 

Only the rattling of the window 

latch and steady hum of the radiator 

underscore you. 

You’re pulling off your tights.

Where were you? At a party perhaps? 

I only view you at this transitional period;

empty time slotted between night and sleep. 

Frames of your film strip life, 

gently unfolding, 

obstructed by dark pillars

of your apartment walls. 

I wonder if you’ll take off your dress next.

The night breeze carries warm air and summer 

solitude through your open window.

I’m sorry for watching you like this.

I guess I’m a coward.

Our lives lay parallel, 

stretching infinitely, 

never intersecting.