Being Wise Twenty-Eight

     Sunrise on New Year's day by Doc Ellen at Jordan Lake,                 Moncure, N.C.

Being Wise Twenty-Eight August 15, 2021

Most mornings I awake at dark

and wait for light. First light is

grey, barely visible. Then faint

tree shadows slowly taking on

substance because something

is glowing, off to one side. This

window looks west. If I turned

and looked east. I could see more–

a real flowering of light as the

clock moves past six. Even now

we head toward winter. They’ve

promised rain for a week. It began

last night, and Tim brought the

clothes in. Definitely trees now,

and sky behind them. A few

branches right outside this window,

still bearing green leaves. Maybe

the end of our 90-degree days. 

Maybe not. With our climate

changing, it’s hard to tell.  We’ve

had more than our usual rain

and high humidity. The sky begins

to turn blue. The rooster crows.

It’s not raining now. Light enters

from outside as well as from the

lamps. I see the single leaf shapes.

The rooster sounds happy, even

celebratory. The computer is dark,

because we had a storm last night,

and I turned it off early. Now it is

full light even though the sun is

still beyond the trees but waking

to keep me company and turning

sky pale blue with pink.