Light lingers, brightening the evening sky

Through thick grey cloud, reviving earthbound hopes

Senses respond, stimulating mind's eye

And though things are no better, ego copes

Thoughts drift to summer outings, fancy gropes

For roots and branches halfway down the cliff

To slow the slide. Opening envelopes

Of bills and parking violations, stiff

Drink as the darkness inks the sky, a sieve

Removes the stars. Shit lingers, has to lie

On pavements, unattended; no fly creeps

On its frosty moonlike surfaces. If

Days were warmer, would they feel less lonely -

Those days of summer's scantily-clad groups?