That My Eyes Open
That my eyes open in the morning
Is wonder enough for any day
Lids slide back and
The world jumps alive
The blue sky, endless above me
Floods into my brain
Birds dart, feathers a-ruffle,
Come flying right into my eyes
Winging the twisting neural pathways
To alight in whispering oaks that
Only an instant before, sent strong roots down
Into my brain’s teeming humous
I loll my head horizonward and the whole hillside
Bursts into bloom, all those seeds and tendrils,
Burnished leaves, stems and petals rush to me
Penetrating the iris and pupil
Like a camel passing the eye of a needle to
Gallop recklessly on into fields of delight
Eyes opening in the morning
Is wonder enough for any day.
Garth Gilchrist
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I especially like the photograph accompanying this poem Garth. The soft edges conjure in me having just slept deeply beneath this oak(?), and though my lids slid back and the world jumped alive the ‘sleep’ hasn’t quite yet left my eyes. Thank you.