Jolly Puss takes a stroll
along the back alleys
of the midnight world
looking for ash cans to tip
against the moon beams
holding the stars
in the sky, whiskers
quivering to climb up
there, too; when a lamp
goes out it creates a zone
of invisibility, a place
to look from while judging
the lay of the land

You can’t get tired
in the dark, because freedom
won’t wait; keep moving,
keep searching, leap
into the open windows
just to see who yells,
and if no one yells
then you have a place
to sleep come morning
as the light drives
adventure away

A fire escape is a stairway
to that moon, the rooftop
its temple mount; here
the lights of confusion
spread out on all sides
trying to put back
the order of the day
on a world best
left unseen