After Midnight

by Shirani Rajapakse


Sometimes
a hot cup of coffee in
the middle of the night does wonders for a
restless mind wandering the corridors
of time, fluttering here
and there like a moth
trapped in a room, knocking against doors
locked up for the night, trying to wake
up the sleeping snug in their
dreams, yelling ‘let me out! let me out!’
A cup of coffee, strong, hot and sweet,
just as I like it, can provide strength
in a lonesome night, silent
except for
strange sounds like prehistoric creatures
calling from the trees outside
hidden from view,
never showing faces.

The dog wakes up as she always does
at the slightest sound from
the kitchen.
She will not lift a paw
or give ear for noises anywhere else.
A thief could walk in and take
away the whole house for all she cared,
but a discreet thud in the kitchen;
opening a cupboard, picking up a cup,
and she’d drag herself out of her dreams
to rush in and flop down at
her usual place against the cupboard.
Pushing away the sleep from her eyes
she’d stare up with a
look that says,
“give me something from
what you are having,
whatever it is.”
But alas,
coffee is taboo
for her although she loves
the taste, expects a sip
in the mornings, waits until I finish
let her sniff the cup
try to stick her tongue in
to taste the residue clinging to the sides.
She looks up and sulks as
I sip knowing she
will not get her way here.
Not tonight as I savor my coffee and listen to
the silence of the dark outside.
No rains, no leftover
afternoon heat, the creatures in the trees
now silent, gone to sleep. The only
sound the soft breath of my dog
as she sighs softly to herself
dreaming of things she cannot have.


* * * * *

"After Midnight" is from Shirani Rajapakse's new collection Samsara (2022), https://www.amazon.com/Samsara-Shirani-Rajapakse/dp/6249972005/ref=sr_1_1?crid=7LBJVOPCGODS&keywords=shirani+rajapakse&qid=1677215221&sprefix=shirani+rajapakse%2Caps%2C233&sr=8-1

Shirani Rajapakse writes poetry and short stories. She’s the author of six books including Chant of a Million Women, winner 2018 Kindle Book Awards, USA as well as Gods, Nukes and a whole lot of Nonsense and I Exist. Therefore I Am, 2022 and 2019 State Literary Award winners, Sri Lanka. The latter was also shortlisted for the 2019 Rubery Book Awards, UK. Rajapakse’s work has won and been placed in other competitions including being highly commended for the 2022 erbacce-prize for poetry, UK. Her work appears in many journals and anthologies. 
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