Triple-digits had us pressed
between red-hot griddles,
hot-glued indoors all day…
trapped in deep gloom,
all blinds, shutters,
doors and windows closed,
at the mercy of the AC.
So at 10PM when the
outside thermometer
drops to a mere 85 degrees,
I greet it like an Alaskan breeze
and escape out onto the balcony.
Oh, the night, the open sky,
the open air, the little lights
on streets and hills and dwellings,
so welcoming, my village surrounding.
I draw in a long grateful breath…
I sigh…I sigh again…
when out of the close-by dark
on a soft flap of wings
swoops a fellow night creature.
Surprising me on my left,
crossing my vision
just a few feet away,
swooping, lifting up,
preposterous turn of head,
looking right at me,
swooping away!
Oh, I am so thrilled
by the sight of you,
you round-headed,
feathery, smoke-apparition,
out surveilling.
I hitched a ride,
flew with you,
your swoops,
your lifts,
shared that
locking-on of eyes.
For one moment,
the veil fell away.
It was only you and I
suspended within
the Great Mystery,
the Holy All of Creation…
a moment in life
shimmering with
the One Life.
Ann Keiffer
July, 2024
Image: Pinterest
