My Perfect Image ... what is yours?

[KariCoen]

My Perfect Image

Where is your peaceful retreat from the hustle and bustle which is cram packed with anxiety, frustration, disappointment and self-doubt? Mine is a memory I recall from childhood. When I felt at my lowest and as if I really didn’t matter to anyone, I would sneak outside to peer at my perfect image. I would walk out into the crisp chill of the winter night. The moon would be hanging big in the still black sky. I could see my breath come out and swirl around my face as a soft gray mist. I remember trying not to fall through the crusted-over snow. I watched my small shadow gliding across the frozen snow filled with small glittering light. With each step, I would think this time I won’t break through. As I tried to walk as light as I could, I didn’t want to disturb the silence of the still winter night with the crunch of the snow as I would break through the frozen layer. My perfect image would greet me as I leaned up against the cold hard surface of the pear tree standing dormant at the side of the yard. I was so small in a world so big. The tree would support my head and allow me to gaze for minutes, which felt like hours, at the still black sky filtering through the black twisted tree branches. The soft gray rings encircling the moon would stretch out to the blackest edges of the sky that was filled with pinholes allowing light to radiate from the blackness. The stars would twinkle like tiny diamonds in a sea of darkness; their brightness brought life to a massive void. Perhaps my small body only felt smaller but the large moon taking the time to smile down on me through the black empty branches made me feel at peace.

Kari Coen 7-16-07