The Invitation by Milton P. Ehrlich

In the middle of the night

A cloud of stardust appears

Outside my bedroom window.

Mysterious songbirds chirp

in hieroglyphics saying words

I’m surprised I understand.

They invite me to leave home

and follow a path to beyond the beyond.

I respond in sign language

that I never knew I knew—explaining

I’m not ready to leave just yet,

but do appreciate the invitation.

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Milton P. Ehrlich Ph.D. is an 89-year-old psychologist and a veteran of the Korean War. He has published poems in Poetry Review, The Antigonish Review, London Grip, Arc Poetry Magazine, Descant Literary Magazine, Wisconsin Review, Red Wheelbarrow, and the New York Times.