Yes, this is the second time you’ve seen this picture in my blog. It was posted with a poem, Daybreak, in late August and now it reappears to accompany a second poem it also inspired, Daybreak II. A single picture on paper, on the screen or in the memory has a powerful, persuasive control of our imagination. This beautiful photo by my friend and photographer, Yolanda Litton, has done just that.
Early Morning at Bagnegrole (Photograph by Yolanda Litton)
I’ve included an audio clip of me reading the poem. Click on the link below and wait a few seconds.
Daybreak (2)
Waking up in at daybreak in the south of France
Is as if I were stepping into someone else’s life.
So far from my own home, this wistful morning fog
Rises slowly to reveal a house of soft honeyed stone.
The slope of a sharply pitched roof holds a tall chimney
Where the swifts are now resting after a long evening hunt.
Somewhere a rooster crows with the energy that only
The young can bring to a new day. Out of nowhere,
A soft gray cat tip-toes by, looks up at me and blinks
Its eyes in that inscrutable feline way and disappears.
I stand here leaning on the windowsill, wondering
What my life would be like had I been born here.
The smell of freshly brewed coffee wafts up from
The kitchen below. One lone church bell rings
Calling its faithful to prayer. But nature’s beauty
Is my religion, my serenity, my salvation, my Eden.
A Poet in Time 
Lovely, Mary. Very visual.
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You are a kindred soul, Michelle. ❤
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Good morning Mary.. Many thanks first of all for clicking the follow button to my Dreamwalker’s Sanctuary..
I am loving your site and poetry.. and especially connect to the last lines of this poem. “Calling its faithful to prayer. But nature’s beauty Is my religion, my serenity, my salvation, my Eden.”
Wonderful.. Nature and each day that breaks brings us hope and salvation as we see first hand how we are all One..
Many thanks for your visit..
Blessings Sue
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Thank you, Sue. I am glad this poem spoke to you in this way. It’s always so lovely to find a connection through nature and art. We are all One. Best wishes.
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This is just lovely–a meditative moment upon awakening. I liked what you added about the haiku form, as well. Your poem reminds me a bit of Mary Oliver…and that’s about the highest compliment I can give. I turn to her poetry when I need a moment of respite in nature.
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Thank you so much, Victoria. I’m honored by the comparison.
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Mary,
Your writing is so very beautiful. Serene. Reflective. Invitational.
Thanks your recent visits and for your kind comments. I came visiting here yesterday and was so taken with your writing I didn’t know what to say! I’ve decided thank you will do very well… .So. Thank you for sharing your gift.
Elouise
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Elouise, what a lovely thing to say. Thank you so much. ~ Mary
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Beautiful!!! Love your poems! You are a great poet!
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Thank you for such a lovely compliment.
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Thank you so much, Randy.
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