Replenishment - Oct 20 2024

Replenishment

Oct 20 2024

These November days,

when a waning sun

barely skims the trees

before dipping from sight too soon,

is like peering through a small basement window

as a heavy shade

is steadily lowered.

One of those slit-like windows

set in cinderblock

up by the ceiling tiles.

So a glimpse of daylight, is all

between going off to work

and returning home.

For those who find comfort

in the seclusion of night,

this is something we look forward to.

People like me.

Relief

from hectic summers

that end too soon,

the pressure

when precious time is short.

And just when it’s needed most

the long dark season

of settling in …

of more sensible expectations …

of reflection and rest

in which to replenish ourselves.

While I suspect

that for all the others

ancestral fears are welling up

from deep in their unconscious.

Fear of the dark,

where malevolent strangers lurk

and evil spirits reside.

Fear that we have displeased the gods

and the light has gone for good.

That with the sun extinguished,

and life on earth

clinging to refuge

deep underground,

the shade will remain

tightly shut.

That this cold dingy basement

will be their grave.

I think a vegetative day of complete laziness left me feeling guilty. I wasted the relatively short period of sunlight on a beautiful fall day. A puritanical culture that celebrates work and productivity will do that to you. So I suppose I wrote this as a salve on my conscience: justifying it as a necessary day of rest and replenishment!

Nevertheless, I am one of those “who find the dark comforting”: a nocturnal soul, a denizen of night.