I’ll Tell You How The Sun Rose, My Morning with Duke
September 4 2013
During my workout this morning I was lethargic. I did not want to be there. I pushed myself to the top of my highest climb begrudgingly. When I arrived there was a man sitting on one of the benches. I could guess at his age, but that would be impolite. Suffice to say, his spirit reminded me of my mom’s mom, and they’d fit in the same age wheelhouse.
He said hello to me, and good morning - a nice treat in a city where only every sixth person smiles back. We began to talk, his name is Duke. He comes up every third day and he, in his retirement, is a professional house sitter. Duke has lived a fascinating life, and I was privileged enough to hear about some of it. I don’t usually take an hour off from my workout, but it was well worth it. We talked about how 50 years later Dr. King’s Dream speech still brings him to tears - and he heard it the first time. We talked about what it was like for him being in the NAVY on the day President Kennedy was assassinated, manning a warship that was on high alert.
We talked about equality and bigotry, we talked about the past, present, and the future. We talked about the process of aging and its effects on the mind. We talked about perspectives of age and youth ever evolving as we age ourselves. We talked about his outspoken activities during the Watergate scandal, and we talked about poetry.
He recited to me I’ll Tell You How The Sun Rose by Emily Dickenson:
I’ll tell you how the sun rose, -
A ribbon at a time.
The steeples swam in amethyst,
The news like squirrels ran.
The hills untied their bonnets,
The bobolinks begun.
Then I said softly to myself,
“That must have been the sun!”
But how he set, I know not.
There seemed a purple stile.
Which little yellow boys and girls
Were climbing all the while
Till when they reached the other side,
A dominie in gray
Put gently up the evening bars,
And led the flock away.
Wishing I had more than my phone with me, he kindly obliged when I asked if I could take his photograph. This wonderful man made every ounce of hurt to get to the top worth it today. His spirit is alive and dancing in the sunlight as he greets his day. I watched the sun rise and glow against his frame. I noticed his Mickey Mouse shirt and when I commented on it Duke said to me, “Austen, you’re never too old to have a second childhood.”