Saltatio Nocte

I know a time between two blazing suns
when wing-tipped warriors quit their battlefield,
one skirmish done, the next not yet begun,
And lonely cabs hiss by on quiet wheels.
Here softly, but a guest, I take the floor,
addressing our nocturnal promenade:
The mannered hare, who greets me at the door,
The swaying palm who sweetly sends a nod -
the nightbird who performs a well-known tune,
abstracted with a jazz man's low panache.
We dance under the candles of the moon,
and stars wave to us as they slowly pass.
Soon dawn will send all starting off for home,
But, for now, the night is all our own. -=-