Dusk from a Balcony in San Jose
(August, 2015)

A man on his terrace ponders the breeze.
This evening’s forecast predicts cool weather.
A gentle sweep of cirrus clouds hovers
in the darkening, cobalt atmosphere.

Sunshine has crept down the bent horizon.
Jet planes arc along the celestial dome.
Stars emerge, piercing through the firmament
with steel pinpricks of oscillating light.

Below where he muses, his arms folded
atop a metal railing, steam rises 
off a vacant hot tub sequestered in 
a gated patio. Underwater 
lamps make its concrete basin glow azure,
            an inviting shade for nighttime bathers.