Dawn Emerges

In the serenity of a mountain morning,

dawn emerges from a darkened robe.

Along the Bron- Yr- Aur borders

and ever changing folds

she tempers the coals

with the cool breath of night,

keeping hillsides from burning

and transforming everything to gold.

 

You are the marriage of opposites,

the light strands sequenced in a braid,

two faces coiling through sleep,

the sun coalesced with the shade.

In the mushroom clouds of this shifting

through the zeitgeist of these times,

you pull a blanket over the fear

that hangs in the air

as sure as the expectancy of a new day.

Your dexterous fingers turn the page,

luminous as a laser

that naturally knows the way

through misshapen clouds.

Through the Tao of sculptural precision,

you reveal the light parts,

the porcelain in night’s revision.

Bear witness to this masterclass in adapting,

the emerging image by degrees.

 

It is true that you dwell there,

though I cannot know you as my pupil.

For you taught me to listen through the distortion,

to see the crystal coursing

through every passing action.

In the crane’s graceful transitions

on the banks of the estuary,

you’re the wings of white light

ascending from the dark of the periphery.

A neck disappearing

with a feather and a ripple,

slender, underwater,

gathering in the edges

of a timeless brook

invigorating with the medicine

of soft murmurs and whispering,

breaking the noxious transmission of

virus and confusion.

 

Dawn is the calm amidst danger

that leaves its imprint everywhere.

A balm over the psychic wounds

we perceive clearer

as she pulls from her pouch a sacred mirror

smooth as an undisturbed lake.

Everything under the sky

now unmasked can dab their face.

Reborn daily, healed through creativity.

If only temporarily, this reprieve

penetrates the anticipation

without force or fist but gently disguised

in mist that asks nothing of the ridge,

all along Wa’ahila she dances.

I watch this from a distance

her entrance, these footprints,

the undisturbed parchment

where the spirit finds nourishment.

Simultaneously quick and deliberate,

she remain undefined,

opening her book of changes

with words written brightly,

then fading on subsequent pages,

always scattered by the wind

towards the horizon

as the day begins in the creases

where the night grows dim.

 

Greetings!

Happy Summer Solstice! The change of season is a fitting place for me to begin this journey for I feel this is a significant transition for me.  For years I’ve kept my writings, observations and fragments of poetry in back pocket journals.  These little notebooks would follow me everywhere; through idle time and in the workplace, on the road and in the depots while traveling abroad or along the familiar streams and well worn paths of hikes  I’ve done countless times at home.  They were both friend and confidant, sometimes the only ones , certainly the most consistent. A place to map out or come to an understanding of both the internal and external states I would find myself in.

As these words and journals built up in dusty drawers, I began to re-visit them. I would pull out lines and thoughts that interested me, change a few words and transition into new pieces of writing. Each time new layers of meaning would be revealed depending on changes in my thoughts or in my life as a whole.  I got to thinking that these fragments of writing, whether I liked the way they sounded or not, were never truly finished.  Instead, they were like seeds or embryos that later writings would be born out of.

Through this  blog as a medium I hope to add further layers to these writings,  moving from the mostly personal relationship of myself to my journals into a more public space where feedback, interpretations and responses will be welcomed and encouraged.  In this way collaboration is possible.

Some themes I would like to further explore, for example, the individual’s relationship to nature, the traveler’s relationship to the road or the writer’s relationship to creativity are common threads that run throughout these notebooks and can become topics to discuss and elaborate on in this forum.

Thank you for stopping by and taking a moment to read. Until next time.