by Pam Goldberg Smith

The hush of darkness broken.

Soft edging breathes gently through the horizon, heaving. Reaching slowly to embrace the Earth with its tendrils.

Young greens wake and unfurl from nightly slumber, yawn and bend towards promising life. A winged soul cries out ‘hurryup-hurryup-hurryup’ until a choir of voices takes up the call.

Dawn pulses violently forward. Blood in the sky. A moment’s breath held.

Then all succumb to the flash. A sudden bathing of screaming light. Demanding the wind begin her travels. The waters sway and rock the waves. The cells of creatures screaming too, pursuing movement for movement’s sake. Energy strands affix into every corner as the deity settles along her path.

Chirps and creaks and howls reverberating. Stumbling on imperfect foundations. Learning to endure without the protective blanket of mist and dew.

There’s work ahead.

The spicy fragrance tempts above the innocent floral. Beckoning through time’s harsh rays – beaten, scourged, hungered, drowned – shaping each. Fashioning purpose from yearning. From suffering. For pure survival on the climb to perfection.

A spark ignites the final storm, cracking through the air. The surge, whipping fury allows no sanctuary. Fight beyond pain. Beyond reason other than one must. Until, finally, mutual capitulation. A temporary peace.

Night arrives as quick as life. Repeating eternally

Pam Goldberg Smith is an editorial assistant for the Circulation Research Journal of the American Heart Association. She has been published online (Demand Media, CBS Local), with more recent creative works published in Motherly, an autobiography for Council of Science Editors, and an ongoing “trainee in the spotlight” series in Circulation Research. Pam currently lives in the Scranton area.