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# Morning Quartet
- URL: https://the-stardust-journal-press.ghost.io/morning-quartet/
- Published: 2025-06-23T11:45:13.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-01T16:51:01.000Z
- Author: Daniel Rutberg
- Tags: poetry, Aging, journaling, Loss, Poetry, meditation, #Migrated-1782924600586, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-07-01 12:50

**Before Dawn**  
The silence of your absence  
grows louder each day  
The process of aging relentless  
The pain of loss and the vagaries of being  
Leave me wondering why

---

**First Light**  
Without rhyme or reason,  
I rise with creaks and groans,  
and ponder the evil intent  
of the author of the NY Times puzzle du jour,  
before sitting down to write,  
my life and times

---

**Daylight**  
The blank page before me fades,  
and all I see are memories,  
my lips form an upturned crescent moon,  
and chuckles form deep in my throat,  
and I carefully place the images—  
some fact, some wished for—upon the page.

---

**Awakening**  
I set my throne, two yoga blocks,  
upon the floor,  
and turn on the magic slab

to join the meditation class  
that quiets minds  
and lets the soul’s voice rise above the fray.

And in this way,  
I start my day.