The poem moves from a night sky to a body and back again. It opens with images of stars, clouds and "invisible webs" hanging over sleeping people, empty beer bottles and distant roads. The scene feels quiet, a little lonely, and slightly worn out, as if the world has been left to rest after a long day.
Then the focus narrows to a woman, described as "beautiful & black," whose hair glides across the speaker's face "like sea gulls." The language turns physical and close: arms, breasts, lips, tongue, thighs. The speaker seems wholly absorbed in her, and the sensual lines read almost like a list of things he is taking in. The ending, with "salty tears brown sugared milk," mixes grief with sweetness, so the closeness seems both comforting and painful. Repeating "away falling forever" at the start and the end suggests that the speaker is drifting, lost in the night and in feeling. The mood is dreamy, tender, and a bit melancholy.