dawn moments

even as a young child growing up at the water's edge

there was a yearning to be fully present during the dawn moments

and I would slip out of bed to sit at the end of the dock

in the silence during the ending of night

and the beginning of day

now some decades later

that yearning has only intensified

and I still slip out of bed to sit in silence at the end of the dock

to be fully present during the ending

and the beginning

mostly alone

coffee in hand

it remains a deep privilege

there is a sense of holiness in the hush

as the land yawns itself awake

and the mirror calm of the water ripples in its stretch

to my ears this all takes place in deep silence

but I cannot help but wonder if the silence is only in my ears

does this all take place really with a shout and joyous laughter

dancing excitement

is there an explosion of sound as light bursts the fabric of darkness

a friend recently asked why I thought Moses was told to remove his sandals

was it so that not even a thin slip of leather would separate him

from the holy Presence on the land

and as I have been pondering that

sitting on the end of the dock seemed too far removed

from the ending

and the beginning

this morning

in the fog

I slipped into the kayak to sit in the middle of the lake

to feel its awakening stretch

perhaps tomorrow I might enter into the water itself

to remove the separation of the thin slip of the kayak's skin