Sand Hoppers

Last night I ran
Out into the countryside
Along a brown-grey road
That glowed underfoot.

Behind me a gibbous Moon
Shone from behind
Scad-flanked clouds.
Flooding the fields
With sharp shadow.

My mind was taken back
To youthful days
Fishing on night beaches
Carved from moonlight.
Sand hoppers would gather
Around the oil lamp
Ignoring the Moon above.

I wish I could have ran
All night
On
Upwards
To distant mountains.

I could not.
The town reeled me back
To its glow
And like the sand hoppers
I chose the light
That hides the night
From us all.