Sheer Delight

© 2026 Steve Gray

Sheer curtains, low morning light, gentle breeze, delicate images across the narrowly lit bedroom. I lie awake, I toss in the bed to face the painting, where the light plays across it. A row of small rectangles from top to bottom, created by the shutters on the window.

The projected images move with the sunrise, caressing, coaxing delicate beauty from the loosely textured, pastel-coloured painted surface, the delicate curtains sway softly with the breeze, the light on the canvas drifts casually, the light moves on.

I roll over again, facing the window, through half opened eyes I watch the translucent curtains gently drift and glide. The light is somehow different in this direction, it dances with a more genteel grace.

I ponder, the ease with which I breathe, the deeper sense of restfulness after a long, resonant sleep. Even a brief waking moment at some ungodly hour is tinged with gentle abiding lightness. There is contentment, there is smooth serenity.

Thoughts crowd in, busyness, passing, tears, various health issues around me, the dog, my elderly Mother-in-law, my own and my partner’s health. Thoughts move on to pleasantries, making things happen, bringing anew, words which may offer hope, some that explore utopian ideals.

Comfort, warmth, sensing wisdom, feeling relaxed and struck by a poignant moment, the light changes and a cloud interferes. Like life itself things change, people move on, there is growth and there is decline. I sense the middle ground and aim to hold true.