a pre dawn walk
over cobblestone streets
through hugging mediaeval alleys
a city in the deepest night is a thing transformed
there's a deep and silent magic at work
my own thoughts twist in labyrinthine patterns and designs
which can only occur in an unpeopled crowd
in the inside-out darkness
the wraith of the gothic cathedral, pride of Regensburg, looking as though a witching-hour sun
is bursting from its windows
freed from the stone and glass
stained glass aglow in the city hall
and there is trickster work at play
a subtle möbius-like twisting of inside to outside
i'm just about done with my story
though not the final version
i've been doing a back and forth dance of finishing the first draft
while at the same time doing a first round of edits on what's been written
it's for middle grade readers
there's an urban setting
and a girl
and a banshee
her banshee
and her best friend
and an adventure
in a museum
and in a phantom wing of a victorian insane asylum
i'm in the home stretch
of getting to know my story
my characters
my setting
after that, the fun shall really begin