The gap in the hedge

The morning walk was pre-dawn so the camera had stayed at home. Unfortunately there was also a fox that apparently needed chasing… so the sun was already colouring the east as we finally reached the door. A glance back towards the fields showed me that we had mis-timed that a little… so while Ani was disposing of a large bowl of water, I grabbed the camera on impulse and headed back down to the gap in the hedge where we can push through onto the fields.

I wasn’t exactly dressed for it, having thrown on minimal clothing for our early walk, but the morning was mild, at least for this time of year. Even so, I was chilled from our meanderings; fingers throbbing blue, body taut with cold, jaw aching with clenched teeth, shoulders knotted from a sleepless night…until the sun crested the horizon and warmed me from the heart of joy.

Risen flame gilds the clouds as I greet the sun.
Rooted in earth, my vision filled with beauty,
I offer my pain to the Lords of Light,
And see it consumed.
I place my fears in the crucible
And watch them burn.
Fire turns to opalescent softness;
The benediction of a luminous dawn.

As I walk back the moon still rides high, almost full, in the pale pink of the western sky. Only one thing is missing from a moment of perfection, and tears of gratitude spill down my cheeks as the familiar keening cry heralds the messengers of the sun. Dew soaked feet stand oblivious to the cold and the world falls away as I watch the pair of red kites play in the morning light. The gap in the hedge of emotion that separates us from living joy had waited for me, opening a way forward and transporting me to a place of peace and utter beauty. Sometimes it is enough just to Be there.