Winter of spring

So, I'm sitting at work early in the morn' before sun-up. I'm reading my Haiku book, and it's talking about numens and numinous places. Apparently a numen is what you call a spirit that inhabits and gives life to a place, object, or a natural happening. Whatever. But the author defines a numinous place this way...

"A numinous place is one where the presence of God is felt and known. In this place, God nods in our direction, and we become aware of the Spirit's presence and the link between us."

Now I can dig that!

It was then that time seemed to take a breather. Here I am, downtown Fort Wayne, treadmills are whirring and my regular crowd is almost all here doing their early, early morning routine. Everyone is nice, but almost every single person is dragging today. It's past mid-April, and snow is pelting the dark morning sky.

It was then I noticed the dim glow of a streetlamp right in front of me; right through the top center pane of the door of the bicycle shop right across from me. Snowflakes were surrounding this lamp in the dark of morning.... and it was a bit surreal, I thought. But... it was more than that! THIS seemed to become a numinous place.

So I stopped. I just sat in my chair and watched the snow in the glow of the morning dark. I greeted a few more stragglers wandering in, sluggish from this winter lull of springtime. It seemed obvious from faces the hope of spring had not yet sprung. So I made a few attempts at Haiku to remember. They are not "official" Haiku by definition, and I struggled to find the words I wanted, but... this is some of what happened.

First:
Sideways snowflakes blow
Past a streetlamps early morning glow
Winter lingers on

Then:
Sideways snowflakes blow
Past a streetlamps early glow
Hollow faces slog along

And finally:
Snowflakes blow
Streetlamp glows alone
Morning lasts

Again, I just couldn't quite put my finger on the beauty of the snow, the soft glow of the lamp against the dark, and the hopelessness of this winter in springtime. But, there it is. And... that's about all I have time for now. The moment has passed. The day has dawned. There is work to be done.

So it goes...