untitled (as suggested by Deb Robison)

Sitting in the near

Dark,

Listening to the sound

Of the aquarium filter

As the rain falls

Outside

My tiny apartment.

It’s as if

The rain is

Falling

In stereo.

The wet sound

Of car tires,

The small crashes

Of rain drops

Against the window

As the wind drives them

To their

Destinations.

Periodically

A gust

Rattles

The thin windows

In their frames

And the room

Becomes cooler

As the wind

Enters

My home.

I’ll wake

To wet sidewalks

And little rivers

Of debris

And spots

All over

My dirty car.

Timothy Vance Jackson

February 7, 2009

Sunset- an improv project

Suggestion from Tara Whittle.

The color of

Light

Has changed-

Gone is Summer’s

Bright white,

Now

Fall has replaced

White with gold.

Groundhogs see

Shadows,

I see colors

Of light

And shades of seasons.

Fall has always been

A sweet combination

Of light and smells-

Like

The golden hues

Of light on the

Building

Across the street.

I’ve stared at

The same building

For at least

Ten years now

And have grown

To recognize

Fall

In the color the building

Takes on.

Then the air

Itself

Changes

And the smells

Of Fall

Replace the smells

Of Summer-

No more

Coconut sunscreen smells,

No more

Smells of spilled

Beer

And drunken cigarettes.

Today,

Being Labor Day

And the last

Official Summer

Holiday,

The air is full

Of multiple

Last

Barbecue parties

For the Summer.

Grilled steaks

At one house,

Tuna (or possibly Halibut, it’s so hard to tell from the street)

At another.

Almost certain

That

One house

Was grilling chicken with a light coating of olive oil and garlic, with maybe a bit of Italian seasonings.

I could smell

The burning

Wood chips

Mixed with charcoal.

No mistaking

That smell.

The corn husks were beginning to burn too,

But

A voice

Pointed it out before I had to.

Summer has

Faded

Like the sunsets

Of white

Light.

The golden hue

Of Fall

Has replaced the

Sounds of Summer

Once again.

Tomorrow the classrooms

Will once again

Swell

With suntanned

Children.

This sunset

Is

Less ending

And more

Beginning.

Hello Fall.

Timothy Vance Jackson

09/01/08