PAD Challenge Day 29: Hopper Night

 Today's prompts from Write Better Poetry and NaPoWriMo: (1) Write an "evening" poem, and (2) write an "in the window" poem. In other words, imagine yourself looking into a window and describe what you see. I was a little stuck on this one, so I decided to go "ekphrastic" and found a painting by Edward Hopper (of "Nighhawks" fame) that fit the subject. So here is the result, a little short story based on the painting. 

Night Windows
(after Edward Hopper)
 
I am an incidental voyeur
strolling through fallen darkness
in a city of yellow eyes
that I can gaze into
and find a story inside,
 
like the woman I spy
in a third floor walk-up,
getting ready to call it a night.
Her derriere and pink slip flash
in the second of three windows.
 
From the left one, wide open,
a blue curtain billows out
into muggy August air
like a sheer flag or a gesture
of a graceful hand inviting me in.
 
The right window is obscured
by a translucent red shade,
so I can't make out all the details,
but I accept the curtain's invitation
and open the brownstone door.
 
I bound up two flights of stairs
and jiggle the doorknob -
it opens without resistance.
I slink like a cat through the flat
and into the back bedroom.
 
Suddenly she turns
and her eyes widen in surprise.
"You shouldn't leave the door
unlocked and the shades up,"
 I growl.
 
"Oh hi, honey," she laughs nervously.
"You're home early."