This evening, I sat by an open window

and read till the light was gone and the book

was no more than a part of the darkness. 

I could easily have switched on a lamp, 

but I wanted to ride this day down into night,

to sit alone and smooth the unreadable page 

with the pale gray ghost of my hand.

From Delights and Shadows by Ted Kooser. Copyright © 2004 by Ted Kooser. Used by permission of Copper Canyon Press, www.coppercanyonpress.org. All rights reserved.