A life's moment of measure




4:34am             (@ Conca di marini on the Amalfi coast)

I’m leaning forward on the metal railing of a terrace

a balcony seemingly in suspense between heaven and earth

The top of the cliff a thousand steps above my balcony

The Adriatic Sea seven hundred below

heaven and sea are connected here only by a winding string of stairs

whose existence is contingent upon stray reflected lights of the night.

Here and now.

this is a place of intimate grace

like no other I have been

…a stirring of the senses

a purring within the soul

like a gentle breeze that causes the chest to flare

and the eyelids to close

Not to see what they cannot see

But to lend vision to an exploration

Of being, cause, reason, soul, spirit and life.

…All is in good measure here

there is no overload of the senses

no urge to fight

nor to flight

emotions stretch toward introspection

but gently

No rush to determine or feel

Only to bathe in the temerity of the moment

and the solemnity of this grace

A spiritual transaction more potent perhaps

by the muting of everything other

On the stairway below

A single leaf clatters head over heels

while others await their turn

for the gentle breeze to lift them too

This accepting, welcoming breeze

asks me neither to roll up my sleeves

nor to pull together my lapels.

 

All vision is becalmed

‘tween the blueish grey of the sea

and the steely gray of the sky

decorated at their farthest extent by the twinkling

Of candlelights along the the Capri shore

And necklaces of pearl along Sardinia’s coast.

The firmament is not crowded today…

no complicated arrangements of stars

no familiar constellations seek my attention

yet they are in attendance

muted.

I see

Terraces, man made

with gardens of fruit

to fill the bottles of wine and limoncello

I smell

Rosemary and basil in the wind

that will flavor the breads at dinner

This is not luck

It is fortune that I am here

to revel in the ethereal

if only for a little while…

My destiny is not the same

as that of those who inherit these balconies more permanently

But that is ok too, today.

In this space I find a peace

no disenchantment

no regrets

no glory

no celebration

Only a gentle gratitude

a quieted mind

and my serene heart

fitting in its small appropriate inconspicuous place

In the infinite picture.

I find myself making no prayer for fame or position

no supplication for health and longevity

no plea for pleasure or distance from pain…

Nothing comes

Except a calm of being one with the universe

With creation.

I may never come here again

But I care not that I must leave here in the morrow

for on this balcony

At 4:34am

with heaven and sea as my witnesses  

I have taken the measure of my life

considered my mission

evaluated my soul, and

fortified my spirit.