The Night Garden 

 

The vision

 The hallways 

Are doorways 

The doorways

 are gardens 

And in the gardens 

There is music

As the clocks all strike midnight

Still bodies 

Like statues 

break their oath of silence.

Slowly one by one 

All through the garden 

With white dresses 

Everything is laced in gold 

Peter wakes up

Rubs his eyes 

Walks over to his laptop 

And begins typing 

He types about the statues 

Like dolls 

Dancing in the garden 

He describes the clocks striking midnight 

The sunrise stopping the event 

Until the following night 

Therapy 

Mrs Jones 

Welcomes Peter,his family smiles slightly….

“Peter is showing great improvement.His autism is not holding him back at all…and I believe whether or not his speech developes …he will navigate just fine…”

Her voice fades out into the back ground

As Peter walks outside 

Down the lane 

Where he sees 

Figures 

Waiting 

Jo and Marie

“Hey Peter!.” 

He’s excited now

He only sees them on Thursday 

And today is Monday 

“Come here,we have to show you something.its on the piano!”

They retreat back inside the old church…

He looks behind himself and then follows …running…

And there inside 

Is all the lights 

All the glitter 

All the dancing 

Like dolls 

Across a ballroom floor 

And an old piano 

Marie starts playing 

And the piano paints itself 

With light 

And color 

She shows Peter the keys 

And he begins fumbling through them 

With his quick fingers 

He stops 

And looks at Jo 

“Hey! Look at the ballroom!

That’s the gig! 

Write it down 

This is the music!”

Peter nods 

And watches all the masks 

Move like blood flows

Across the room 

He watches all the lights 

All the food 

And plays 

Trying to remember the movement 

Of the room

This is the play 

This is the night garden