Passing by, he could be anybody:
A thief, a tradesman, a doctor
On his way to a worried house,
But when he stops at your gate,...
...You know it is not just anyone-
It is the Night Traveler...
...He has a gift for you, but it has no name...
...He holds it in the moonlight, and it sings
Like a newborn beast,
Like a child at Christmas,....
All night-and all your life, if you are willing-...
...Will hold you like a mossy jaw,
A bath of light. An answer.
In the winter's night, there is a possibility of joy that so many of us know in the story of Christmas. For when the dawn breaks, we know it will be "our" day. Our brains calm, our hearts open, and the community breaks into a song of possibility. Sometimes, the night before my birthday I have had this same singing gift, and the days before and right after my wedding. In these presents (presence) I didn't know that they were the surprise of having an answer, as Mary suggests here. Looking back, though I see that they were a time to rest from asking questions of why and how. They were simply a "how" of living where questions were no longer important, because we were living the answer.
When has the weight of your days lifted in the night?
The Night Traveler and I are on very good terms. He has visited me often. I have had many answers appear in the night with a new light and spirit arriving in the morning. While experiencing some of my most difficult times, such a divorce and raising children alone with limited financial resources, Night Traveler came almost every night to renew me with answers. Now when he stops by I give him a gift of the knowledge that I am doing well and am thankful for his blessings.
ReplyDeleteThe Night Traveler is a common motif amongst writers--Frost too writes of one visiting a couple on their wedding night. The Wise Men, Xenia...
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