Dec 05 2006
What were you doing at dawn?
For the last 18 months I have experienced a special stillness in the early morning. It is a time of meditation, reflection, and creative writing.
Just the other morning before dawn, I was in my office when I noticed a brilliant blaze through my window. I went onto the deck about 200 yards from the ocean to catch the full impact of the rising.
It wasn’t long afterwards with a cup of strong coffee at my side that I began the following poem. As I have stated elsewhere, poetry serves to bring into consciousness my deepest thoughts. I hope it does the same for you.
What Were You Doing At Dawn?
You should have seen
The blanket of red clouds
Extending for eternity
Out to sea at sunrise.
For an instant
Earth stopped spinning
As all creation awake
Stood silent in adoration.
Wordless, silent,
Without concern,
This rising occurred
With the same mystery
Each sunrise bears –
A singular finger print
Not repeated but bearing
A recognizable imprint
One soul-sought
In stillness, in silence,
Undisturbed by chaos, or
Converging storm-turbulence.
Waking early in autumn
Brings visions, fills clouds,
Calms raging foam,
Snares wandering stars.
I should mention to you that the last stanza was influenced by reflecting upon two verses from Jude 1:12-13:
They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind –wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
