Daybreak Remedy

I rise from bed in a stupor,

Still overcome by last night’s slumber.

At first, I worry

If I had already missed it.

I head to the kitchen

To find a kettle,

Dried leaves from the cupboard,

Some water,

And let it bubble on the stove.

Steam rises with the cool aroma

Of peppermint,

Another moment to let it steep.

I take the glass to sit by the window

Facing east,

And I wait --

To find a semblance of joy,

A remembrance of symmetry

In a life sometimes overwhelming,

At the only hour when I feel

Like my existence is in harmony

With the world before it awakens,

And the people begin to hasten.

But at this moment

When all is quiet,

And my mind is still,

Conferring me

To only be.

At the edge of the darkness

Among the horizon,

A paintbrush dipped in bright pastels

Colors the calm and sweeps away

The last remnants of night,

Painting it in a brilliant indigo

Upon the easel of halcyon light.

A canopy of silence that cocoons the air

Holds me together like an old friend.

As gilded beams illume the room,

The sun colors the land

And beckons the stillness

To stir again.

I breathe deeply.

It quells my mind

For just a second longer,

And I sip from my tea.

At least there was a moment

When time belonged

To only me.