Night of Voyeurs

It’s more than silhouettes tonight, every window in the city lit, shades lifted, curtains open. As one suspected, the dark buildings full of lovers, undressing beneath light bulbs, before mirrors. Men & women, men & men, women & women, embracing. Even the loners visible, flickered by single candles, touching places they’ve usually chosen to keep secret. So much nakedness! And the streets empty except for the newsboys moving through shadows, leafless trees snatching underclothes out of wind, the El clattering above the roofs like a strip of blue movie.