Monday, June 16, 2008

Humidity



Night tucks like a sticky blanket over bare skin and kicked away sheets.

The moon illuminates the haze.

Through the open window, precious little breeze slides down the mountain. Deer thread the invisible trailways and blink their black eyes without sleep.

We stir and yawn.

Mosquito wings whir in the dew drop humidity.


(Picture: The midnight forest, Wayne County, Pennsylvania.)

14 comments:

JaneyV said...

If you add in an inability to breathe due to allergies that's summer alright! But somehow when you say it it's much prettier!

I just passed a deer on the road 5 minutes ago. They're so shy you don't see them often even though there are hundreds around the woods here. You have to drive around being aware of their existence because they jump out on the roads and get spooked so easily. And yet it's always such a surprise to spot them. You must've been very quiet to get this shot!

paisley said...

i live in an area full of deer,, and they have a virtual feast in my yard,, and my garden if i am not one step ahead of them... what i don't have here is anything that even gestures at humidity,, and i feel that tho it may allow for higher temperatures with less feeling of stagnation,, it also makes one feel dry and withered and old,, this lack of youthful moisture in the air....

Sarah Hina said...

I like the nighttime crackling and settling between the dreams...

And sometimes, our half-awareness beneath that haze. This photo is a nice remember of all we miss.

Jaye Wells said...

The deer looks like a friendly spectre, roaming through dream-filled woods.

Geraldine said...

What a wonderful post Jason! Love the imagery (hate humidity though!) and the photo.I agree, dreamlike quality to the deer in the woods image.

www.mypoeticpath.wordpress.com

Jamie Ford said...

Cool. That looks like my back yard. We had a garden once. Now it's known as the deer salad bar...

Unknown said...

Creepy picture. I hate mosquitoes, although they seem to like me a whole lot.

Anonymous said...

Janey, yes, I'm making these nights sound better than they are. ;) As for the picture, it's from a trail camera triggered by heat and movement.

Paisley, I'm struck by your point about humidity being a kind of protector. There is something life-affirming about it. Wonderful perspective!

Sarah, between dreams...I like that. The tossing and turning amid the night noises. Very true. Somewhere between knowing and not knowing.

Jaye, I feel that way about them too. I think about their journeys when we find their prints in the morning.

Geraldine, it's an infrared camera with an infrared emitter. The photos are ghostly.

Jamie, I hear you. Deer populations are a tough issue in Pennsylvania. The suburbs get overrun by the munchers.

EOH, that whirring sound is like nails on a blackboard. Break out the Deepwoods Off!

SzélsőFa said...

We visited someone the other day. He drove us back at night. We met an owl, a baby fox and a wild boar. It was fascinating to see that much life around.
It's a plain higway at daytime and a real-life meadow an night.

Meghan said...

"Night tucks like a sticky blanket over bare skin and kicked away sheets"

Oooo...I love that!

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

I love your opening line. Actually I love this entire poem. It is perfectly seasonal right now. I can hear the mosquitor wings whir. Let me go kill that sucker.

Anonymous said...

I would love to see a deer in the wild. Sadly, we only see kangaroos and the occasional wombat. How lovely to see a deer. But to get down to business - my God, what a poet you are! I am sorry it has taken me so long to get here, I have obviously missed so much. Your imagery, your tone - breathtaking.

Vesper said...

I love the forest and the night... The photo is perfect, Jason, same as your words.

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