Night Watch Privilege

Night 
Through hours past midnight
Stretches time
Unusually dark and moonless 
The air holds its breath
Through drawn fingers of spent wind 
Total silence is layered
Like black is to white
To the stillness
The ticking of the watch
Pulsation synchronised 
To heartbeat
The breath of the cows slow and warm
The distant horn of the lighthouse 
25 miles out
Strangeness its rhythm
These things which disregarded are  
When the dawn begins
A palpitating  constancy like breathing itself.