Delight Springs

Monday, March 21, 2022

Getting up early

The great thing about getting up early, for me, is that it offers the unforced leisure to think unbidden, surprising, often-delightful thoughts and to revisit small but pleasing memories. It gives me time to read my favorite Times essayist, to rehearse my morning mantras from Marc to Henry, to snag the fleeting butterfly of the moment, and reflect on GK's daily poem. Here's today's:
Getting Up Early
by Anne Porter

Just as the night was fading
Into the dusk of morning
When the air was cool as water
When the town was quiet
And I could hear the sea

I caught sight of the moon
No higher than the roof-tops
Our neighbor the moon

An hour before the sunrise
She glowed with her own sunrise
Gold in the grey of morning

World without town or forest
Without wars or sorrows
She paused between two trees

And it was as if in secret
Not wanting to be seen
She chose to visit us
So early in the morning.
The small but pleasing memory that jogged this morning took me back to 1979, back when I used to check in each morning with Garry Trudeau

Oh, wow, indeed. Aren't words fun? They're really good at pinning, though not quite replicating, experiences and memories. They're time travelers, they're our time machines. But don't ask me what time is.


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