Listen to them in the night,
Telling you how you should feel.
A one way heart-to-heart talk,
With nothing really real.
–
An echo from some capriccio,
Playing in your head.
Then, fleeting voices barely heard,
A search for meaning instead.
–
A jumble of notions from the day.
Images and sounds abound.
Some feckless, lacking theme,
Some valid and profound.
Maybe a movie or a parade,
That has these images floating by.
Loved ones appearing, then fading.
Returning by-and-by.
–
Imagining by sound and sight,
Whether causing joy or fright;
A stranger’s frown,
A sorrow to drown,
A ride through town,
A scholar of renown,
A crying clown,
A toppled crown,
A bloodstained gown,
A light pole down…
Just whispers in the night.