This morning
I got up
& was not afraid of the monsters in me
I stared down the girl
on the other side of the sink
I thought
for the first time
she was beautiful
we
have some battles yet to fight
but today
we looked at each other
then briefly
stiffly
embraced.
This morning
I listened to the conversations
the birds were having
while I sat there
a visitor not unwelcome
just unnoticed
with my black coffee & brown cigar
like the man
who sits unattended
eating in a restaurant
content to listen
to the conversations from other tables
alone but not lonely.
This morning
I couldn't distinguish who was who
from the bird's voices
the visual noise
of the sun enlightening & uplifting
the faces of
half the leaves on every tree
almost drowning out
what the birds want to tell me
another green
that is
violently striking
to me
in the morning