Night Watch

I lie on the lawn,
knees bent, feet earthed,
head grounded to the cool grass.
Chlorophyll calm seeps through my skin
as bats begin the night shift,
darting through their element
as I connect with mine.
Untroubled, one by the other,
we share this space and time.

My eyes are raised to scan the sky
in search of fleeting meteors
as my ancestors might have done
on summer nights like this.
Space and time dissolve
until the star I seek shoots by,
fizzles to invisibility
so suddenly I only catch it
from the corner of my eye.

To be witness is a thrill.
Addicted, I seek more,
smiling as I realise
that what I came to look for
took me by surprise.