Eight Degrees At Two AM

by David Asia (December 2014)

I went outside at two am

To give the dog her break.

Above,

Orion straddled the black,

Starlit fields of sky,

His eye fixed on the tilt

Of the great bull’s head.

To his east,

Jupiter surveilled the planet

From the rim

Of his ellipse.

Everything else had frozen

And fallen,

Leaving only the thin, pure,

Particles of air

To infiltrate the fabric of my robe.

It was as if

The ecstatic monk

Had rung his bell in an octave of oxygen,

Immersing me in the swell

Of a dark and soundless sea.

The cup of night

Could hold no more:

No prayer

No promise

No violation.

Just everything.

_______________________

David Asia retired after 35 years in human services. He lives with his wife, daughter, and grandson in rural North Central Washington State.

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