The body wakes
Before the mind does.
A small alarm
within the blood.
Cortisol calls
the day’s first burdens,
chemistry of striving.
Eager to begin.
In sleep we dissolve,
All is formless and free
Morning gathers us in again,
naming, judging,
calling back effort
Before the mind is awake.
The ancients prayed
At this hour,
a space between
dissolution and duty.
Allowing the mind to rebuild itself
and choice to drive the day.
So each dawn,
we meet ourselves,
half-formed from nothing,
still learning how to rise
without trembling.
Cloudia Charters