The Secrets of Dawn

The Breeze at Dawn Has Something to Tell You

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.

Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.

Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill,

where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.

Don’t go back to sleep.

~Rumi - Sufi, Mystic Poet (1207-73)


I heard this poem spoken to me in thought and images, but I only recognized it when doing a search for poems by my favorite mystic poet, Rumi, this evening. I woke up with my 2-year-old son at 6am, and the view from the bedroom window caused me to stop breathing – stop thinking, until I could take in the full beauty of the sunrise. A salmon pink, with hues of peach at the center, painted the sky in a wide ribbon. My mind wanted so much to label this, to intellectualize the experience. My spirit would not let this happen. I simply gazed at the emerging light at the horizon and allowed all other thoughts to evaporate into the quiet calmness of the room. Outside that window was the sound of stillness – the grace with which we are born and the dignity with which we cross over. It is the pure beauty of nature’s humble grandeur. No other sight can make us feel as complete as the majesty of this earth and the heavenly glimpses we are gifted with at dawn.

I hope that you create with this same sense of awe today, when you raise your pen to write or bring your strong fingers to the keyboard. I hope your heart sings with the spirit of truth with each word on the page, so that your readers may experience the joy of first light and the brightness of being we are all capable of shining.

Cristina M. R. Norcross
Copyright 2008
www.FirkinFiction.com