Glow

[rejectomorph]

The first hint of daylight brings darting birds, gray shapes that whir by, barely visible. Other birds chirp nearby. All night the moon floated among clouds, sometimes its light no more than a pale glow, sometimes its form emerging, clearly round, but sufficiently draped that it appeared to steam, the vapor forming a pink halo. For a while, very late, Jupiter emerged, a tiny blue speck in an otherwise starless night. There were seldom shadows, the diffused light filling every corner of the landscape. Everything was vague but the splashes of white azaleas. I would like an azalea-lined path which I could follow on dim nights, leading to meadows and woods filled with browsing deer and hooting owls and the sound of running rills. Nights such as this are not for the common streets and the squat houses of the town. They deserve places where sprites might be moved to dance.