Tag Archives: morning

Early Morning

There is something liberating about
waking up early. Not too
early, mind you. But earlier
than you need to be
awake; and if you’re lucky,
early enough to see the
last of the night disappear
in the whitewash of the
morning sun, and to hear
the birds when they first
rise and start practicing their
songs, like violinists warming up
outside the concert hall for
a performance later that afternoon.

It’s a sense of freedom,
definitely — and an opportunity to
feel the earth’s slow glow
as it stretches its muscles
and wipes the traces of
sleep from its opening eyes.

29 DEC 2004

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At Dawn When I Awoke

At dawn, when I awoke, the rain
was but a mist that damped the lawn;
and then its whitewash strength increased
to rinse the night, ’til it was gone.

Its purpose served, it too then waned,
as greys began to blue
and dried the puddles left behind
to just a drop or two.

Yet on the breeze I taste it still —
its cool and fragrant kiss,
that lingers in the morning air;
good days begin like this.

The wrens, at first asleep, or shy,
now venture from their shade
and low, take up their favorite tune
and start to promenade.

07 DEC 2004

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Morning Resolve

This morning I shall try to set
my sights against the hypocrite
that dwells inside me, giving pause
to any who would praise my cause.

I seek him out, this two-faced toad
whose inner turmoil oft explodes
in fits of misdirected rage
against his keepers, or his cage,

and bid him walk with me a while,
to value substance, over style,
and for a moment to forget
those years developing regret

for dreams undreamt, and songs unsung,
denying that we are among
the smallest spots in life’s design
yet claim so wildly, “mine, mine, mine.”

This morning, for it’s early stil,
there’s time to catch him, and I will,
to, at least for an hour or two,
pretend that he’s illusion, too.

07 DEC 2004

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Two Murders

Two murders I witnessed in opposite trees
across the canal, voicing cacophony;
a trial of wills between territories
resulting in blackened skies, as the light breeze
of morning and rain brought a chill to my knees.

Not often such numbers are gathered this way,
suggesting an omen to christen the day
accompanying storm clouds hung heavy and gray,
their pregnant, expectant rough edges in fray
awaiting the hour when havoc would play

on all thoughts of picnics, or sunlit parades.
I watched as the black wings formed out of the shade
there in the tall cypress where their nests were laid;
and just for a moment, felt cold and afraid —
then sipped from my hot cup of coffee, just made,

and drew on my pipe, let the thick smoke surround
my head, and then slowly, not making a sound,
rose from my chair, let my feet feel the ground
cool underneath me, and looked once around,
and thought of myself, quite small and unprofound.

Two murders I witnessed in opposite trees
this morning while killing time quite patiently;
and though it was quite unrelated to me
I pondered some moments on the irony
that such things should happen, and that I should see.

04 DEC 2004

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And Still Another: a alba or aubade

Before the first ray of morning sun comes
over the muttering lips of the sleeping world
(like the last soft warm breath of a restful sleep
is released from the tight grasp of that little death)

and there are not yet schedules to be met,
children to be shuffled off sullenly to school,
arrangements to be made, broken and remade,
the drudgery of household chores still untackled,

I listen in that dark and peaceful lull
to the gentle sound of her breathing next to me,
warm and serene under the sheets and blankets,
cocooned like a butterfly, just dreaming of flight.

31 MAR 2004

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Awake at Dawn

I find myself in recent days at dawn,
a time of morning I’ve not seen for years,
and in that space where darkness soon is gone
a soft, yet vibrant energy appears.

I used to be enchanted by the night,
and find that time of silence fighting sleep;
but as of late it seems, try as I might,
those midnight rendezvous are hard to keep.

So there under the carport, with the birds
as they begin to sing and stretch their wings,
I listen to the starting sounds of words
and try to notice what songs the earth sings.

It does not rule for long, this quiet peace,
But behind the day’s noise, it does not cease.

11 MAR 2004

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Morning on the Levee

Along the edge of the levee,
atop the slow hill slanting up
against the bank of the canal

there is a worn down path of grass
that leads from just nearby my house
to where the water meets the lake.

This morning, feeling rather bold
I took a detour down this track
just to see how long it would take

to walk its winding way, and back.
It took nearly a whole hour,
and left me tired, but not vanquished.

And to see the waves crashing there
against the rim of reclaimed land,
watching seagulls float in the wind

as the sun tried to break its way
through the thick, gray morning rain clouds,
made the trip worth the traveling.

12 OCT 2003

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