Poems by Louis Phillips

NIGHT STAND

I am of uncertain frame of mind.
From time to time,
I request night to stand still
So I might capture night
With all its splendors,
Tho it is difficult to focus

On so many variations:
Planer shift , star shimmy, etc.
I have lived in many nights,
So have you I imagine,
But are nights just one night
Returning every evening
With its long list of regrets?

What have I learned
When morning appears
On my doorstep
& the dark goes home?
Nothing in the night
Stands still very long.

SWAMP

Nox, nox. Who's there?
One more night
Bears upon its back
Exotic snails,
Spanish moss in thrall,
Whispering
To our sleeping selves
Mortalities,
Nothing to reassure us,
But seasons changing
& day turning to night,
Then to awake
To treasure troves
Of breathing.
Like the history
Of undiscovered countries,
Night arrives
Because
It has nowhere else to go.