Gilded Wings

The heavens hang
a laundry line of clouds
as far as the eye can see,
where placid waters
meet the sky.
The gentle tumble of breakers,
languid whispers
like velvet…
a soft caress
upon my ears
reminding me
of long ago.

Summer days that stretched
like bent and broken limbs,
reaching across
gray linen fields
for the temporal sun,
forever beckoning
with its white hot light.

But my dreams
dissolved….
I was not unlike Icarus
in his doomed attempt
to fly….
I hovered
ever closer
to your heart
of radiant beams.
I too, have melted,
like those gilded wings,
imperfect, wilting.

Perhaps it was my destiny
to melt, to dissolve
in a puddle of wax at your feet,
a fallen angel who veered
from her righteous path
on the way
to eternity.

Colleen M. Breuning © 2009
August 1, 2009

It's Me, The Sunset Poet

I was trying to come up with a clever blog title and was a little perplexed. How do I describe myself in a few short words? Chocolate lover. Conossieur of red wine. Loyal wife and mother. Published poet. Nature photographer. Travel lover. Web designer. Former Arther Andersen employee. Oh, wait I've got it.... "The Sunset Poet."

Those of you who know me personally know me as Colleen.... the girl who loves a sunset so much that she plans her vacation dinners around them. The girl who spent every single day of her Barbados vacation plunked down in the sand with her tripod and two cameras snapping away at the sunset. The girl who rides her bike down to the lake in her neighborhood to capture yet another sunset.

Why do I love sunsets so much? There is so much beauty to behold in them. Each one is unique, a work of art, a heavenly masterpiece. The sky is the canvas, and God holds the paintbrush. The sun is the paint, casting its colors on the horizon. The clouds are the mixed media that swirl the colors and convey an ever-changing portrait with each snap of the lens. I can't tell you how many sunset photographs that I have taken. Suffice it to say it is well into the thousands.... I have more than 30,000 jpeg files on my hard drive!

Watching the sun set into a nest of clouds, into a mountain range, or into the black sea brings a sense of peace like nothing else I have ever encountered in my life. It is my meditation, my prayer time and my gratitude for being granted yet another beautiful day. Each sunset brings the promise of the night, and a new day with the dawn.

So the next time you find yourself stressed out at the end of the day, hurrying to prepare dinner or tackle the mountain of chores that await you when you come home from work, try this. Take a few minutes to yourself and walk outside. Breathe deep. Listen to the birds chirping as they nest in the trees. Notice the arc of the sun as it bends down toward the horizon, the layers of clouds, the pastel pink and deep purple hues cast across the sky. A sense of peace will overtake you, and you will be rejuvenated. Enjoy this gift from God as often as you can. I know I do!