Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Diamonds

It was another one of those ridiculous early mornings. It all began with Ben at 2:20am. He pulled along side my bed and ordered; “go in my bed with me”. Ben, at 5, is irresistible even in the middle of the night. He was back to sleep within 10 minutes and I wasn’t.

I rolled out and hauled into my running gear. Ella got up with me and we wandered downtown to the bank machine. There’s a certain stillness that is only available in the dead centre of night. It was cold at -11 C / 12 F. The moon was high - nearly complete over the river. I envisioned a spawn of a zillion migrating herring. I couldn’t help but croak out Bruce Cockburn's “All The Diamonds” from 1973.

All the diamonds in this world
That mean anything to me
Are conjured up by wind and sunlight
Sparkling on the sea

I ran aground in a harbour town
Lost the taste for being free
Thank God He sent some gull-chased ship
To carry me to sea

Two thousand years and half a world away
Dying trees still grow greener when you pray

Silver scales flash bright and fade
In reeds along the shore
Like a pearl in sea of liquid jade
His ship comes shining
Like a crystal swan in a sky of suns
His ship comes shining.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You were up early and I hadn't gone to bed yet.

I kind of miss the times when the kids would come get me in the middle of the night. It's good to know you are needed. You may miss that some day.

Enjoyed the post. I have a feeling I need to know more about Bruce Cockburn.

24/7...and other stories said...

You didn't say if you wore shorts or not, like usual. Okay, you just stepped up on my list of blogger friends, I LOVE BRUCE COCKBURN.

Backofpack said...

Hey Robb,
Thanks for letting me know where you were! I like the dead of night runs, though I usually only get those at relays. Amazingly, there are a lot of people up on my usual morning runs at 5:30. I miss the little guys coming in too - if they come in now, it means there's trouble afoot!

Sarah Elaine said...

I love the way you adapt to whatever situation you're in.

Nice running map, too. :-)

Anne said...

Another Bruce Cockburn fan! That sound does seem a perfect fit for the dead of night run you describe. I guess that's one thing I miss about living in a big city -- ain't no way, dog or not, I could run around town at that hour.

Anonymous said...

One of top ten songs of all time- for sure.
~Neighbor Sarah

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