Black ship of night
sailing through the world
& the moon an orange slice
tangy to the teeth
of lovers who lie
under it,
sucking it.

somewhere there are palm trees,
somewhere the sea
bluely gathers itself up
& lets itself fall again
into green,

somewhere the spangles
of light on the ocean
dazzle the eyes,
but here in the midnight city,
the black ship of night
has docked
for a long, dark stay,
& even the citrus moon
with it's pockets of juice
cannot sweeten the dark.

then the snow begins
whirling over the Pole,
gathering force over Canada,
sprinkling the Great Lakes with sugar
which drowns in their deep black-cups;
it is drawn to the spires
of this wonderful place

& the flurries come
scampering at first,
lighthearted, crystalline white,
but finally
sucked into the city
as into a black hole
of space.

the sky is suddenly pink-
pink as in flesh; breasts,
babies' bottoms. night is
day; day is whiter than the
desert, the city stops like a heart;
bluejays dip & veer
& come to rest
under the snow-capped
water tanks
reminding us the
tundra of the soul
is always softer from
a booth inside the
coffee shop at
the edge of the universe.

SAS