Dawnings
after the party
By Nicholas Hooper
after the party we clear up, clean up,
with the memory of voices, conversations,
and laughter in our ears
the house was changed and made bigger
to accommodate the number of friends
who came to drink and eat
now we must restore our home
to a place of comfort and snugness
so that it once again holds us in its arms
like a parent who came later in our lives
to pick us up and make us children again
cleaning, tidying now, brings such pleasure
and why is this? you might ask
it is restoring our lives,
after an experience of wide friendship,
to the small intimate group
that live in this place, our place
so that we can see what we have
and remember the fulness of our lives
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About Dawnings:
“Every morning at around 5am I get up and go down to my studio. After a short meditation I write down whatever is in my head, giving myself fifteen minutes to do so. Then moving over to the piano (or a more portable instrument like my Ukulele when I'm away), I improvise and record a piece of music inspired by whatever words I just wrote. It is a great way of keeping both my writing and my composing going and I call these small creations Dawnings. They are mostly unedited, like sketches, so that they keep that fresh feeling of an early morning discovery.”
— Nick Hooper