Nocturne - 2019 Writing Award Winner, Poetry

I linger on the lakeshore

As the pulse of this autumn day grows faint.

Cloud underbellies—

Dune-rippled like an inverted Gobi—

Soak up pink and ochre from the west

And spit out rays of gold,

As the solar sarcophagus sinks

And stars appear

Like relatives at a wake.

My cat joins me on the shore,

Crouches to watch a chipmunk

Scuttle into the gaping body bag of night.

Frank Edwards, MD, FACEP