The palms sway and wave at us from up above.

Lifeless feet shuffle across the horse trodden bricks of Sevilla Street,

                                                                                                and the night greets us gladly.

We keep to the edges to better observe and to be observed.

A young man breaks the stillness of the hazily lit night with garbled laughter;

                                                                                                only his friends find him funny.

They brazenly quarrel and horse around under the watchful eye of the gazebo.

A young woman is crying while on the phone with her impatient mother;

                                                                                                the girl hates it here.

She sinks into the dewy grass of the west lawn and manages to chain-smoke

throughout her tearful plea.

A thin black cat slinks through the manicured shrubs in hot pursuit of a lizard;

                                                                                                the cat hisses as we approach.

In doing so, it loses sight of it’s prey.

I find comfort in the subtle variations of the night.