Sentimental Summer Sounds

The Great Horned Owls were silenced by the aura of vivid human sentimental emotions transcending the nighttime air...

A Poem by Harlon Rivers

The Great Horned Owls hoot on for hours

breaking the silence of a cloudy and humid summer night.  

The windows to the outside world are wide open

allowing the sweetness of the firs and pines fragrance 

to permeate the stale, sultry bedroom air. 

The conversation between the owls

sounds like a long distance phone call

in which time pauses between 

the short awkward sentences. 
"hoohoohoo hoohoohoo hoo"

One sounds as if she was in the next room.

As their unique poignant chatter

echoes off the giant trees,

the other stranger in the distance
seems to be a country mile away.

He answers her questions willingly

from the stillness of his roost, 
on the other side of the draw

His nocturnal call resonates  up the treed hill,
overlooking the rippling brook,

as it enters the emerald rock dammed pond 

of cool, crystal clear, spring water. 

From the north, beyond the crest of the hill,

a new sound is heard in the night’s darkness,

hushing the flirtatious owls lullaby.

It is the sound of the distant trains in the valley

speeding though the night on the infinite rails.  

From this lonely audible vantage point,

I once again count crossing horn blasts like sheep 

The first whistles are barely heard from a great distance

evolving into undeniable peaceful solitude ending,

dream ruining, ruminating noise.

Finally fading into the night air, like a distant memory

Silence is restored after 28 horn blasts 
warn all creatures and mankind

that the train from somewhere passed in the night

Traversing seemingly infinite tracks

crossing great physical and cultural distances

Defining an unfamiliar journey

towards unknown destinations. 
 

The Great Horned Owls were then silenced by the aura

of vivid human sentimental emotions

transcending the nighttime air

Enigmatic silent reverie quieted their lost moment

of intimate organic vocal exchange

I reminisced quietly in my mind

over that exact sound scenario’s feeling of déjà vu

Slipping into a dream knowing I've been here before... 

Remembering our time together... 

As you lie next to me

with only a musky cotton sheet

partially covering your sleeping beauty

while listening to the silence,

broken by the wonders of nature.

I watched you countless times

content to be in the moment

I relished the melody of your sensual

exhaled breath as you slept.

Willingly, I silently counted 

Owls and trains... contemplating

the loss of this moment in my mind. 

While imagining your peaceful slumber,

 once again I feel you close to me.

As I closed my eyes

I watched the trains refection 
of the  dawning red sky 

as you boarded that train.

Left here behind, with these roots grounded

in the bed rock of my history,

I watched as you disappeared 

into the distant horizon

I could hear the fading whistle

at some far-away crossing

of the infinite rails

traveling towards unknown 

final destinations…

© 2012 Harlon Rivers