Posted: 09/03/22

Sunrise 2 February - Louise Cole

Like a sacred space.  You are nowhere and everywhere, all at once.  A time out: permission to stop and observe, to breathe and just exist in the moment.  No one looks up.  Everybody walks with focus and intention just getting where they need to be.  Chatting with friends, silently staring at phones, heads down and hands buried deep in pockets.  But no one looks up. 

They don’t see me, yet I know in that moment what they are doing.  It is a strange feeling to be an almost secret observer. 

The light changes quickly.  I watch the patterns made by birds in flight, looping and gliding, above and below me.  A single, small white feather flies past the window and serves as a reminder of the impermanence of life. 

Clouds striated across the horizon which curves around us and the patchwork of buildings, roads, bridges and trees stretch on towards it like a model village. 

I’m new to this city.  I’m still learning its secrets and hearing its stories unfold.  To stand and watch over it, the people I may never meet or see again, is a real privilege.  An hour I won’t forget.