The night, this night anyway,
has requested quiet—
using an older, quieter word.
The owl complies, sounds one note
pianissimo on a marimba
with a soft mallet.
No crickets fidget.
No feral tom cats talk trash.
Even the hound over on the next farm
howls for only a few minutes
and then, whatever had been bothering him,
lets it drop
and drifts off to sleep.
Don Thompson has been writing about the San Joaquin Valley for over fifty years, including a dozen or so books and chapbooks. A San Joaquin Almanac won the Eric Hoffer Award for 2021 in the chapbook category. For more info and links to publishers, visit his website at www.don-e-thompson.com.
Foxglove Journal 