The Weight of Morning

To you. There are days when opening your eyes in the morning is hard. Yesterday's troubles have settled onto the day like luggage, and you want to stay under the covers a little longer. But you got up. That's enough for morning to have begun. Before you step out the door, the face in the mirror may look a little worn. But the street is already full of people. Each carrying yesterday's weight in a bag, matching their steps to one another. Among all those steps, yours will follow without much trouble. The air on the way to work is still cool. In the hours just after a day begins, it seems a quiet strength is needed. When you reach the office and sit down, the coffee has gone cold before you notice, and the work waits slowly for your hands. But I won't say it's all right. Only that today, too, past the cold morning, an afternoon will come when sunlight touches the window. There, in the very place where you are sitting.