Sometimes when I can’t get to sleep
and my body is full of unnamed tension,
I get up in the dark to stretch.
I lie down on my back
in the ribbons of moonlight
that slip in through open shutters
and turn the coiling of my mind
to e x t e n d i n g the tight muscles
in the backs of my thighs
…and r e a c h i n g o u t as far as I can
with my arms and hands above my head,
…and d r a w i n g circles in the air
with my toes and ankles,
…and r o t a t i n g my head and neck
slowly from left to right,
…and l e a n i n g my hips and knees
slowly from this side to that.
A soft, muffled thump—
the kitty jumping
down from the chair
where he has been sleeping—
and I feel the silky slip of his fur
as he brushes companionably
up the full length of me.
I cannot see his shape in the dark
but his creamy, angora-soft fur
is lit aglow by the moonlight,
revealing a nimbus, a wonder,
an aura of platinum.
To be awake to the moment!
…in the dark
or in the light.
Ann Keiffer
September, 2019
Image credit: Digital collage by Ann Keiffer
