The Rhapsody of Dawn
Morning Brew
Listen Here- Podcast Style
Watching the morning break, I realize again that darkness doesn’t kill the light.
It defines it.Richard Wagamese
The dawn of a new day is in itself an elixir! I wake in the dark before dawn. No alarm ever needed. Rumi running through my veins whispering in the quiet darkness, “The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep.”
We are all on the journey from darkness to light. A circular yet a mysteriously never ending spiral journey home. Dawn is a time of homecoming and promise. The seeds of possibility pull me from the bed. The sacred convergence of darkness with the loyalty of the light summons me to worship at this magical altar. Dawn. Like a child on Christmas morning I quickly rise up. Presence kissing wonder. The rapture of awe calling my name.
The Camino to the kitchen is a sacred pilgrimage all unto its own. A blind stagger into the quiet darkness that slowly eases into a steady purposeful rendezvous with the light. The well trodden path leads directly to the coffee maker. The beans already freshly ground and the machine watered and ready for creation. I am still in the dark as I press go. The percolating rain starts to fall and the familiar bouquet officially starts the day. I close my eyes and breathe her in. Meditating with the cascading babbling brew I open my lungs in widening breath and open up my heart in gratitude. As the excited tempo of crescendo gives way to a whispering diminuendo, I pour myself a cup of this holy wine.
The origins of coffee date back in lore to the tenth century in Ethiopia. In the 1400s Sufi mystics across the Red Sea in Yemen are given credit for being the first to cultivate the beans to brew the buzzing black beverage we know today. The word coffee derives from the Arabic; qahwa. Coffee houses spread through the Middle East and eventually conquered Europe.
Recent studies show that coffee is definitely more than the adrenalizing magical stimulation of caffeine. Drinking coffee increased activity in parts of the brain involved in short-term memory, attention and focus, whereas ingesting caffeine on its own did not. The researchers theorized that the sight, smell or taste of coffee may help people feel alert, regardless of the caffeine content. Coffee brought additional effects on brain areas that affect working memory and goal-directed behaviour. Coffee is also rich in antioxidants and some polyphenols, that may lower blood pressure, fight cancer cells and protect against diabetes by improving metabolism. Trigonelline gives coffee the aroma, and the taste of bitterness, but also has antibacterial, and antiviral properties.
Coffee should not be drunk in a hurry. It is the sister of time, and should be sipped slowly, slowly. Coffee is the sound of taste, the sound for the aroma. It is a meditation and a plunge into memories and the soul.
Mahmoud Darwish
I cradle her in my hands. The heat greeting my open palms. I celebrate the invitation of a new day. I bring the cup to my nose, romancing my nostrils. The aroma kisses my face. With cup in hand I head outside into the darkness. Scientists tell us that black is the absence of light. Artists tell us that black is the presence of all colours. Rumi reveals “If everything around seems dark, look again, you may be the light.” In the heart of darkness lives invisible light that dawn breaks into colour held possible by the night. My bare feet connect with the earth as I embrace this sacred time and space. My lips explode as I taste that deliberately slow first sip. The rippling potion saturating my very soul. I am baptized into solitude, silence and stillness in the fading darkness. I meet myself as a stranger and fall in love all over again. Coffee is an unwavering morning companion that I share with that healing blue hue of truth. Coffee is spiritual medicine. It is a ritual of intention that opens the door into a sacred practice of presence. Coffee is a meditation that embraces the now of here within a dance of the senses. It is an act of self-love. A gift to the heart and nourishment to the soul.
The dawn and coffee are lovers. I head back inside and ceremoniously bear witness to the rising sun as she weaves her rays into a poetic tapestry of colour across the loom of the eastern sky. I greet this new day as a cherished gift. Thankful in gratitude. I am so alive. I surrender to the dawn. Love swallows me whole. Grace announces the harvest of her presence and the flower of my life unfolds around me. My blood dances to the magic light of the moment in a meditation of creation. Words come to find me. Birdsong serenades me with chorus and with pen in hand I mystically turn coffee into ink.
The Rhapsody of Dawn
The chill of cold air
abruptly slaps my bared skin
An emphatic welcome to the new day
My knees greet the invitation of the stairs
with an awkward amble
on an ever slowing descent
The fluidity of grace and motion
discover me again
once my feet cautiously find
the solid ground
of the patiently waiting floor
In the quiet darkness
the ritualistic pull of dawn
guides my blind determined stagger
towards the light
All of my senses
meet the unfaltering steps
to this sacred dance of convergence
Faith guiding me
to that one action
that sets the world in motion
A morning bird in prayer
The song starts to softly play
as brewing effervescent makes love
with the roasted dust of mystique
in a slow dripping crescendo
of ecstasy
that soothingly whispers my name
My nose tingling
at the alchemy of creation
My hands baptized by the warmth
of a filling vessel
My lips already wet
with anticipation
as my eyes swallow
the beauty of presence
I disappear into the moment
as I tenderly taste
the pregnant seeds of possibility
© Jamie Millard
Thank you so much for reading. An audio version podcast style can be found at the top of the article. May you rituals greet you every morning and may they help you meet that stranger you see in the mirror. May the universe sing you a rhapsody as you fall in love with yourself all over again. If you loved this article, please consider buying me a coffee to feed my addiction via the donation button below. Please reach out if I can be of any assistance on your poetic journey to authenticity.
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Thank you!
Lots of love,
Jamie
"We are all on the journey from darkness to light.
A circular yet a mysteriously never ending spiral journey home.
Dawn is a time of homecoming and promise.
The seeds of possibility pull me from the bed.
The sacred convergence of darkness with the loyalty of
the light summons me to worship at this magical altar.
Dawn.
Like a child on Christmas morning I quickly rise up.
Presence kissing wonder.
The rapture of awe calling my name."
This is a poem!
Thank you so much for reminding me of the beauty of dawn. I love to greet the day with a nice coffee and watching the sunrise myself. It is certainly easier to do so in winter, as the sun rises later. ;-) I totally share your passion for the mystery of dawn, the magic of coffee and the poetry of an early sunrise!