“The free bird leaps on the back of the wind
And floats downstream ‘til the currents end
And dips his wings in the orange sunrays
And dares to claim the sky”
- Maya Angelou
“I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings”
“Freer than a sunbeam – shining though my soul . . .
Free – like the river – flowing freely through infinity”
- Stevie Wonder
“Free”
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a man woke up
and as he looked outside his window
he witnessed the perfect sunrise . . .
At first all he could see was a dark glow from somewhere behind the last hill . . .
and as it got brighter the whole world seemed to wake up . . .
As birds started chirping and roosters started crowing
in preparation for the arrival of a new day
and the end of a cold and indecipherable night
and then the sun peeked over that hill first
to see if the world was ready for his arrival . . .
. . . and then he appeared . . .
. . . showing his entire face . . . throwing blues and reds and oranges and greens . . . replacing what previously was black and white and grey the night before.
And it was that morning
as the man woke up
looking outside his window
that he vowed to witness the perfect sunset . . .
he would witness countless sunrises and sunsets though none quite as perfect as that first one for there would be days where one or two or infinite clouds would block his view as he would sit through rainy evenings and snowy nights waking up and falling asleep and some days he would see the sun setting but he could not find the perfect hill to view it from and once he found that perfect hill he could not get there at the perfect time because the sun never sets at the same time each day and he spent many days scrambling up the hill furiously tripping and stumbling only to miss it by a few seconds and other days when he had given up on finding the perfect sunset he would just happen to turn his head and see the sun drop and as it caught him off guard he would drive himself crazy blaming himself for not being prepared thinking he had missed his moment . . .
Yet one morning
the man woke up
and as he looked outside his window
he realized that today would be the day
So he went to the perfect hill
and calmly walked up it
and just as he arrived at the top
he turned and saw . . .
The perfect sunset . . .
The sun took pinks and reds and oranges and purples with him . . . leaving only the blacks and whites and grays for the night . . . and as it got darker the whole world seemed to fall asleep . . .
As birds stopped chirping and wolves started howling
in preparation for the end of a long and meaningful day
and the beginning of a cool and meaningful night
and then the sun peeked over that hill one last time
to see if the world was ready for his departure . . .
. . . and then he disappeared . . .
...leaving a dark glow from somewhere over the next hill . . .
the man fell asleep
and as he looked into the world’s window
he witnessed the perfect moon rise . . .
