I wanted to capture my thoughts early
Before the veil of quiet, lifted off the face of morning
Before the first car pierced through, the mist of an uninhabited world
Still in my dreamlike state of mind
My inner peace like untrodden
beach sand, before swimmers, and sunbathers pressed their feet upon it.
Before the zip like sound of drawn blinds, I wasn’t yet
ready for sunlight, for noise, for vigor, to shatter the virginity
of pure dimness
I took care not to disturb the dishes on the rack, lest the
racket of plates, the rattle of cutlery, dent the silent bubble still surrounding me
Gently, I filtered my strong Arabic coffee, straining the
golden ground beans and cardamom seeds, its rich aroma rising and dancing like a seductive white genie, in the warm dark kitchen
To write before my thoughts are tainted by the day,
before a word is spoken, before I ask my daughter what she'd like
for breakfast, before the sloshing of heavily socked clothes in the machine
I imagine, this is what a poet-fisherwoman feels like, dropping
her fine line, in a perfectly tranquil sheet of water, the slighted plop,
the tiniest ripple. Not for want of a meal, but for the simple pleasure of
knowing what nature can give you, when you arrive early.
