Spectrum Vortex by Flickr User Zyg Zee

Deflated

An Aubade

Bill Hart-Davidson
1 min readAug 9, 2023

--

Dawn just past, I’ve shuffled to the kitchen window.

In the bleary ambiguity, a crepuscular haze,

a scene I cannot resolve in light so low.

On the walnut leaves and dry grass there is something that contrasts.

Aglow, reflecting light, as from some source within. So it seems.

Panning and tilting, canine-style, seeking clarity,

I work at comprehension. No luck.

I start coffee. I go back for shoes. Open the back gate.

Cranes croak overhead.

Every plane is textured, every bit of living or inert surface

made to drink in the light. Except for the shiny bit.

Even as I close, forty feet, then twenty, then ten, this

stuck pixel in my backyard display

gleams anomolously. To be so close to mystery is a rare thrill.

Three feet now. And this magic, this glitch, is neither.

It is a balloon. Or was.

Spent mylar. An instant relic of not long bygone glee.

I listen to the stillness of morning

and imagine a lingering laugh.

--

--

Bill Hart-Davidson

Hyphenated, father, academic, juggler, cyclist, cook. Philosophy of life: give.