Alan Hilfiker

Last flicker of a candle
A church bell’s quartered after-ring
Soundless waiters clearing tables
Thunder out across the bay

The baleful call of seagulls

Sailboats rocking at their moorings
The slap of lines against their masts

Last pull upon a cigarette
Last swirl of Johnnie Black
Coltrane eddies from a bar nearby

Soft ripple of the ivy
Fresh smell of coming rain

Streetlight shimmers on the water…


The shadows reach from far away.