Scrambling up
jagged mountainsides,
trying to catch a glimpse
of the sunrise.
The moment
where the land turns
from darkness to light.
Far below,
the city sparkles
like jewels in the valley,
stars stolen
from a discarded crown.
Hands cut
and feet blistered,
panting in the thin air
of the almost dawn.
Cold makes my breath
come in clouds,
and bites my face,
even as I am sweating.
To the East,
I behold the sky,
now blue,
now pink,
now gold,
and then,
a single sliver of sunlight
breaks the horizon.
For a second,
I am blinded.
For a second,
I don’t see,
or hear,
or think abbot anything.
Not you,
not me,
not death,
or life,
or debts,
or war,
or even the fact
that I’ll have to find my way
down this fucking mountain.
For a second,
there is just the light of dawn.
A new day.
As the Great Disc rises,
I can watch the shadows retreat,
all the way back to the
sparkling city in the valley,
until its glass towers shine brilliantly.
The cold air already feels warmer.
Once the sun clears the line
that delineates Earth from sky,
I am ready to head back down,
but first,
I think about you,
and me,
and death,
and life,
and debts,
and war,
and even the fact
that I have to make my way
down this fucking mountain,
doesn’t bother me a bit.
I can handle it.
The hardships of life
can be borne,
and whatever darkness
we can’t illuminate ourselves
will be chased off
by the first rays
of a new day.
HG – 2022
