And When There Was Dawn, by Otis Sprow

Veiled Mountains and Silent Boats, by Glenda Keyes (USA) contemporary

And When There Was Dawn

Part 1
Before dawn, I left the house
while the sky was still denuded of waking colour.
Then first light gushed,
hinting the color of honey contained in glass jars.

Expansive sky containing the last breath of stars
as morning tide builds strength to arise.

I absorb each day for its aliveness,
when stepping through my door.
A wan sky, slowly becoming caramelized,
coupled to a sleepless river.

I ride this river for all its inductive strength
as it receives the same sinew as is given.
To understand, brightness must be painted
with darkness as well as light.

The river may not be my first love, but it is a love which lasts.
It draws me in without telling me what to think.

I see it beyond the reflective colours of its skin and
accept it satisfies hunger in my world.

The river does a squirm on its way.
No growl from its surface while doing its sway.
No clamor from anything in the sky.
 
Instead, cunning quiet from both,
while each contains complete natural best efforts.
Courage does not need to be loud.

Not everything in life is a competition
and mountains learn to duplicate themselves brilliantly on the water.

Part 2
My friends say on the top of each peak
is the sweet spirit of angels.
Though I may have glimpsed this,
I have never seen this in those mountains
with their up swings to the sky.

Mountains without helmets.
Mountains without flags.
Mountains without wars.

 I think and think
and think
and then I steer into them.

The silky resistance of the hull on the flow of the river.
The silence found within the river’s warmth of currents,
like the flow in a slice of life well-seasoned to taste.
So silent in movement.

Above and below the river’s surface,
there is difference and oneness at the same time.
This river is who I am. This land is who I am.
Even had I millions, I would spend it exactly like this.
I was born into the completeness of this place.

Free, by simply being one with it all.

When it is in your blood, it makes you happy.

Otis Sprow

​Otis Sprow is from Baltimore and his work has been published in numerous journals.He has been a featured poet on several occasions for the Short Story Book Fest and various unique events in the Baltimore area. Additionally, he served as the featured poet for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Secretary's Award program in 2022 and the Washington National Cathedral (February 2025). He writes his free verse poems with the intent that the reader/listener “get to know me a little better and have the space between us melt.”