Saturday, October 9, 2010

October 9, 2010

Friday seemed to come and go in a blink of tiny tasks. Small bits of a job that add up to little or nothing. Suddenly the night surrounds you and your hands are still empty. But today is a fresh start, and with the news that the rescuers in Chile have finally broken through the earth and reached the miners trapped below. There is a swell of hope in the cool fall air ...


First Light

(for the 33 miners trapped in Chile)

Imagine the first light

bouncing pebbles down the shaft

staining the walls like tears

on grimy unwashed faces.


The body does not like darkness

ask the 33 swallowed in the mouth

of earth’s hushed tones.

Devoured but not digested.


Imagine the display of cosmic fireworks

embers burning through strata

trickling rivulets into the permanent night

that cradles these men.


Would they delight in this interruption

feel joy to discover a sun

which heretofore had ignored them?


Would there be relief, like the puncture

of a swollen wound

finally allowed to heal?


Would the fresh air carry in its breeze

the joyous voices from the hilltop?


We can only watch the flags flutter,

brilliant colors in sunlight

and hope.

1 comment:

  1. Love this one, what a great line, "the body does not like darkness." Don't know how i feel about the last line.

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