NIGHT QUESTIONS

                  by Leslie Clark


              On nights when the soulless navy
              of midnight sky reaches
              through the cold glass skin
              of your bedroom window
              and pulls you abruptly
              from the caressing nest of sleep,
              what thoughts possess your mind?

              As moonlight's shadows shift the patterns
              on the walls, and familiar becomes sinister,
              do you try to trick your eyelids into closing,
              soothe the trembling of your heart
              within its walls of flesh?
              
              Do your accomplishments parade before   
              your open eyes, declaring your worth
              upon the planet?
              Or do your failures slither in,
              the times you didn't care enough,
              the times when fear caused you
              to flee the seeking voices?
              Do you think of love extended,
              then withdrawn?
              And tell me, 
              do you ever 
              think of me?