Pause Between Breaths - (c)2024 by (((Trevor Patrick)))


Late Florida January,
the land lies still--
in some in-between place:
Night not yet arrived,
& evening just left...

Not so much as a hint of breeze,
save some stealthy fingertip chill;
eerie near-silence only broken
by something softly peeping in the nearby woods:
Like some purgatoried dreams
between honest sleep & eventual death.

Or perhaps a silent contemplation
of words I just can't seem to reach:
Stubbornly/mockingly dancing just beyond
my stiff, frigid grasp
or some unnaturally drawn-out... 
           ...
...pause between breaths.

& the unfathomably far-off skies
hold jealously-close their ancient secrets,
always cold & indifferent
Big Dipper large and low
on the horizon
& something else about this night
so incredibly rare:
A cosmic metaphor for some great turning
or some cliched "Great Awakening"

& though often too dim 
for feeble, unaided eyes to see,
tonight the little bear 
is just as bright as the big bear.

29 Jan 2024
 20:30

29.8922° N, 81.3139° W