Jan. 5th Winter SKY

from my booklet “words within 2018”

the hour of sunrise, yet the earth is shrouded in dense valley fog that lifts
only imperceptibly over the morning hours.
the grey lifting fog and the grey moving sky having no defining line between them.
When for a brief minute, as i happen to stare out the kitchen window,
there is a sliver part in the grey mass of clouds, allowing a narrow band of light that
casts soft shadows here below, but only for a brief minute before
it is gone again.

i stand in the window with the distinct impression that
i may have been the only witness to that moment.
there is rain falling,
so gently you need to look at the ground to tell of it with any accuracy.
small intermittent drops puddle without any crown
and ripple only slightly into the moist backyard mud.
midday the clouds evaporate enough to share
the blue of the atmosphere behind them for a few hours.
the sunlight beams down creating hazy shadows in paths
between surrounding pine branches lining the southern exposure.
the air barely moves.
there is a quiet stillness, a gentle holding of breathe to nature for this short time.

mid afternoon comes past 3:00PM, the sky cover thickens
and the sun is hidden again for the day. Only a slight edge of pink
at some indistinct edges of the clouds tells of the suns early descent, 
as the houselights come on.

This is the winter sky, the January sky, the new year sky.