The Night Owl

by Malene Lotz

 

have you gone across the skies
like the moon above the Santa Croce in Florence?

after the dark mosaic filaments in the cathedral
made you stiffen inside like a dried ghost

as you walked across the bridges
and your feet hurt

and all the other terrible things kept
happening
inside your head

have you said I know
I know I can do it

has the holy fresco enlivened itself inside of you
like the night shining above

have you been moved by that strange hour
while walking home

and feeling what you should have felt
when it happened

did the angel finally tell you to see
that you are brave

while you’re standing on the ledge
above a darkening port

and a tower bell rings inside of you
giving way to the light, dappled
moving across a piazza

 

 

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Malene Lotz was born in Denmark and grew up partly in the US. She became a modern ballet dancer, living, dancing and teaching intuitive movement in New York. Her poems have appeared in The Inflectionist Review, Stone Circle Review and SLANT, with work forthcoming in River Heron Review. She is Danish and lives in Denmark north of the beautiful city of Copenhagen.