It is Sunday morning here in the lower Texas Rio Grande Valley and the sun is not up yet. I am an early riser and on many mornings I can watch the sunrise if I choose. On those mornings I stand outside in a monochrome world of gray and watch in amazement as the sun brings color to the shadows and shapes around me. The show never disappoints me. It was quiet this morning except for the smoke detector with the weak battery. The batteries on smoke detectors always go out at night, or very early in the morning. The electronic warning beep sounds like a little bird chirpping once every thirty seconds. My routine is to put the coffee on first, and then take care of whatever comes next. I order my coffee by the case from Mobile, Alabama. I have had every kind of coffee available, but I have always gone back to Leroy Hill Coffee http://www.leroyhillcoffee.com/. I changed that routine to search in the "anything goes" drawer for a 9 volt battery. I had to silence the little one chirp bird before I could concentrate on anything else. I now have my coffee and I am feeling better. We are very close to the Gulf of Mexico, and when I am anywhere near the water I like to watch a sunrise there. I plan to go to church this morning. Sunrises help me minimize my importance and prepare me to honor the creator. I wrote this poem to preserve some impressions of a seaside sunrise.
Walking The Seawall
The horizon shines with a faint glint
that says dawn.
Chilly February wind
wrinkles the gray water.
A rhythmic shush matches
the advance of foamy parallel curls.
A marching band of gulls
plays its one-note woodwind symphony.
Strange pink blocks of granite
hold firm at the base of the seawall.
Moist salty air seeps into every crevice,
and drips off every surface.
New construction on old buildings
marks the passing of another hurricane season.
More light brings color to this mural.
I turn and play the scene in reverse.
