The nature challenge -

Nocturne

Music breezes down the hall
lifting skirt and curl like August.
Schools of silver flatware
jiggle in their basin.
The plump black kettle
steams her glossy sides, licks the cupboard fronts.
Her song darts out startling tea bags
perched above the stove,
nestled in their boxy beds. In a clumpy
clay vase, yesterday's brushes
clutch each other, smell like ochre,
and sienna. Their sable heads nod
as the evening lights turn up
and spindle shadows
stretch their languid limbs across the rug.
Pillows on the couch reach up to the lamplight,
gather it into their velvet mouths.
On my lap a fleecy blanket purrs,
adjusting itself as each of my papers turn.
The pages are curling
and sliding to the floor where long boards
spread and glide. Somewhere
deep in shadow, a clock chuckles,
a facet finally lets its offspring go.
Their bright bodies bloom for her,
giggling as they catch the lip of night
and fall away.