Noir Nights

Night reflections / 2022 / Photo by Russell C. Smith

Everyone starts something – a sentence, a new living arrangement, a changing of the mind – all three could happen in a day. As they say. Why not start at night, in the Noir World? Think about it. The next day starts a second after midnight. Each day begins in starry darkness. Where would be we without the nighttime? Most of us, not even here. Therein, lives the truth of it – back to the front, and sideways in the bushes. Over and under. Around the bend and back again. The world’s becoming a darker place, as it’s always done – after several decades and centuries of illumination. Light up a smoke and I’ll tell you a story. Find a comfy spot on the ground next to the campfire. Somewhere, someplace, maybe in the universe next door – there’s a world where everyone works, lives, does their thing on the night shift. Every single soul. Starting the day at night. Knocking your palm down on an alarm buzzer around 10:00 p.m. You’ve got an hour for a hot cup of mud, toast, and a shower – all the time you need to rattle those bones and get your ass in gear. Everyone’s going somewhere, past the midnight hour, thinking about changing who they were yesterday. Reading a book as you walk on the city sidewalk, shining a light inside a corner of your mind. Could be on the street to the subway, in the car to the freeway, on a path through the park. Walking with a stride in your step. There you are passing through the alley, whistling a jazz tune, feeling night snapping into place as you hear a chorus of seagull laughter off in the distance. Nighttime reaches out and enfolds you into its secrets.