Surrendered Gray

In stillness I sat in the last hour before the moon greeted her lover, the sun, and their gentle embrace blushing the sky. The crickets continued  their night's song of joy, and only my breath stirred the air. Two stars or planets, I know not which, tiny holes in the tapestry of blackened sky.  I remembered a gift from a dear dear friend, I received in the mail. How I held the unopened package with such excitement and yet, not wanting to open it, for then the unknown would be lost.  Sitting with the anticipation of the unknown, then carefully, each corner was slowly pulled back, until the gift and softness was revealed. Like the blush, still yearning to be released, the unknown blended into the known and a new dawn appeared.  Staring at the sky, the planet stars slowly danced beyond my sight and with their dance they gently held the corners of the silken black sky and pulled back a tiny corner. Ever so faint, the deep silky black surrendered a softened gray.  The blush awaits. The dawn remains unknown. And I wondered to myself, is this what an artist feels when their soul merges with a blank canvas? Is this the longing a sculptor feels pleading and calling like Ulysses's sirens from the stone or marble block standing before him?

I sit and await the blush. The cricket continues to sing. And I think I have never expressed my thanks for the brilliant and explosive color of black yielded ever so slightly to gray. The moon and sun will soon paint the sky in colors that cause poets, artists and lovers to swoon.  But for these moments, the gray fringe upon black, pale the reds, orange and blue of dawn. The unknown. The unwrapping.  The soft gift of today held gently in the sweet Hands of Life whispering, 'It is yours.'

May my mind come alive today
To the invisible geography
That invites me to new frontiers,
To break the dead shell of yesterdays,
To risk being disturbed and changed.

May I have the courage today
To live the life that I would love,
To postpone my dream no longer
But do at last what I came here for
And waste my heart on fear no more.

~John O'Donohue