A Poem: Open Sky

When the sky opened the birds flew out.
When the sky opened
everything impossible
suddenly grew wings.

There is something to be said
for imagination,
how it inspires hope.
My friend, who talks about
the duty of the moment,
lives listening for promptings.

How the sky out my window now
is blue between rain bands,
the birds criss-crossing beyond the pane
as though they too
are enthused by light.
Yes, today I am a person
reaching up from bed,
holding the sky open a crack.

All we need
is a moment of fresh perception,
and everything shadowed is highlighted,
the things hitherto unseen
step forth to introduce themselves.

How this duty of the moment
is also a revelation
to turn on the light in ourselves,
see the birds gathering,
readying for flight.

Ana Lisa de Jong
Living Tree Poetry
May 2022