Night Watch

I am awakened by my senses and left by sleep. My mind meanders through notions catching only glances at images, fragments of sounds and voices, barely grasping one particular thought before leaving it for another and still another after that. Attempting to find some peace I sit quietly trying to steady the brain in my head to persuade my mind to settle. This is how it continues through the length of this night like many others. Staring over the calm water I find some focus in the reflections of the tiny sparkling lights scattering the sky. It is strange that when the same wide open spans of the earth are exposed under the light of day, we cannot often hear the presence of silence even when it finds us. The night however, hushes the earth and stands guard of our senses. Under its protective cover, reticent spirits otherwise kept hidden and subdued are allowed a degree of freedom and a sense of amnesty from judgment not wagered with illumination.

So I watch the night. The light of the stars dances on the waves in the distance. A warm wind gently breathes across the dark, cool and mysteriously sensual water. The deck rises away and presses back down into the waves while the boat, seduced by both air and water whispers, sighs and speaks to its lovers in muted conversations as if secretly trying not to wake the sentinels of the night to sound an alarm and bring the days light early. Dawn will come, though sometimes stealthily, always confident in its own timing bearing swords and throwing spears of light. The spirits of the night will again retreat and hide away until it the sun has done its tour and sinks past the horizon away from sight.