Nightsong

Seven lights bob in shivering night
Outside the mouth of John’s Bay
Shrimp boats glimmer through watery darkness
Waiting for the nets to fill
Their lights, a glow of jewels
Sparkle on velvet skyline
Radio waves float their quiet voices
Signals leap across the blackness
Crackling with companionship
Aimless nighttime dreamlike words
Strung together by loneliness
Reaching out over wintry water
To touch some other men in boats
And listeners alone on shore
Eavesdroppers on the radio scanner
A fragile chain of reassurance
All holding hands in the dark.