LOVELINESS OF DISTANCE some nights struck calm in the midst of trees stoney ground not hills not level our earth's surface moving all the time whether or not we see it washing away and resisting so it takes on a shape in the shadows gathered at the knees of the woods a definite longlasting impermanent shape for the roots to dig into I standing halfway up the side of a cup made of part of the world looking into the stars and stroke of moon no other lights nearby hearing night sounds of dogs distantly wind in the upper branches some small four footed thing shaking the dead leaves as it ducks from one hiding place to another suddenly out of a deep corner of the sky comes a blinking orange and red pair of lights I know up there is people on the only thing between stars and earth going where going where and it must be that one at least looks down and tries to see tries to imagine