Poem Therapy March 25, 2011 at 2:28 - In Darkness - Jon Davis

In Darkness
Jon Davis

Silence in this suburb of cars and dogs, of roar
and rumble, sudden thump at the railroad crossing.
But this morning before 5 am, there's only the wash,
the waterfall of cars on I-25, which sounds in my ear
almost like the sound of blood in my arteries—
that inner traffic. In the pre-dawn silence
a bright crescent of moon, darkness visible,
the flared edge. Now a dog barks. Now a single bird.
Another. Now a car in the distance. Dog. Bird,
farther off, this time. Just this one moment of silence
before the traffic begins, before the full choir of dogs
and birds and coyotes flush with desire, as I begin,
shook and shaking now in the lea of in the wake of
in the grip of what unnameable fierce beauty.

I read first few lines of Davis's poem and thought, "this is exactly what I do in my This Moment posts. Then I read "just this one moment' and well, hmmm. I know I haven't read particular poem before, but it is a a little odd that there are such direct parallels between the content and literal phrase from his poem and what I do for my feature, record what is going on in the exterior and interior world. Goes to prove there is nothing that hasn't been done before.