Early

Early morning.
The hour hand moves relentlessly forward
on the illuminated clock face
telling me it's time to leave.

The darkness seeps round the blind
into the room,
but outside
the lamps on the paths
cast a golden light
as I stumble through the door
in a salute to exercise.

The pre dawn enfolds me,
encasing me in a world made small and intimate
by darkness.

There is silence in this world
save for the foot crunch on fallen leaves
and the slapping of trainers on tarmac.

An unseen dog barks far off in the inky blackness,
people pass in their own isolation
no words needed, just a smile perhaps.
Lights switch on in windows,
lone beacons of brightness
in a sea of darkness.

The lightening of the sky begins in the east
and creeps imperceptibly forward,
gradually defining buildings and trees,
stripping them of invisibility
and opening up the world to me,
revealing a grey dawn.

I turn for home and wait.
The sun arrives
and with the sunshine
I relinquish my intimate dark world
to share with others this new bright one.