9 BY 9:

Oh, imagine my surprise.
          I was a thin line, fading out.

I rely on the fringe to disguise and sink in.

One morning, before the dawn's rise,
          I set out for the hill where we had spent many a night.
I had all that I thought I would need;
          a length of rope and...
Well, what else could I man need on his last night?

I stopped there by the side of the hill.
Moonlight guide, I reached the top.
I threw the rope up in the boughs of a mulberry.
I threw it up once.
I threw it up twice
So, I began to climb, up in it's limbs.

I wove it in, tied it tight, let it fall.
For a moment's respite I was lying like a babe in arms.
When what should I see all around me?
Little red stars, glistening in the mooonlight.

I ate one, I ate five...
          celestial glory it was.
Divine.

All at once, I could see on the horizon, the sun began to rise.
It went from a thin line to a bright white light
          that filled the sky from side to side.

A group of little ones happened along on the way to the learning.
They stopped to look at me.
They wanted what I had found.
I shook it up and the stars showered down.
A coward's sacrifice turned Acts in action.

I climbed down and took some home.
My lover was still asleep.
When she woke, she also enjoyed what I had found.
How could she help but be glad?

And if there's one thing that I now require,
          it's that;
          day after day after
          day after day into
          night past the night into
          day after day...
                     I demand to see the sun rise.

April 2002/August 2002, Michael Anderson