dVerse Haibun Monday: Old Friends

This near-winter time of year when the nights draw in: I never was a big fan. In fact, typically sadness, fear and age-old anxiety would always hit around this time. I had a taste of it in October, when many days were overcast and cloudy, but oh, what a cold and crystal clear November we’ve been treated to this year.

I have been drawing strength from every beam of sunshine, from sun-up to sundown. Make sure I do my sunlight salutations (though never at the right time): Dearest sun, my old friend, I salute you.

It was after sundown just the other night, however, that I felt a presence almost tapping at my bedroom window. And when I peeked through the cracks in the blinds I saw a twinkling: as if in the eyes of myriad old friends. As if to say: there are more suns in the sky than good-old familiar Helios.

As sunlight leaves us
celestial friends blink signals
winter semaphore.

Written for dVerse Haibun Monday, where Kim is hosting and has asked us to take inspiration from Dylan Thomas and write a haibun ‘about a time when you last watched stars, a storm, the sea, an animal, or something else in nature that left you with a sense of wonder or awe.’

I’m always filled with wonder when I take in the beauty of nature all around me, but I often neglect to appreciate the beauty of the night sky.