Invisible
((( Sleeker ))) than the fish I lived in the water . . . I feared to lose
breath
I went far
to explore the crabbed beach . . . But could not feel the ground
((( It looked soft )))
There were
other creatures of water but I could not see them . . . They were as silent
and swift as I was
One could
only feel a night imperceptible movement in the water
We sliced through
at the speed of thought ~
I went all the way to the end and looked back
Green lilies
and dark purple water and even darker depths . . . I saved a breath in
a bottle I had with me
I ventured
beyond home . . . The water kept getting darker and cleaner ((( I pushed
forward )))
I could not
even feel nor sense the bottom . . . There were these creatures in long
pieces of wood
They used
these to ride in the water, called them by female names . . . My
mind spoke to me their language
They had bottled
light to serve them in the darkness of the evening at sea
I kept going
nearer and nearer without knowing it I drifted towards them . . .
In fascination, the colors !
(((O)))nward
and onward ~ I stopped
one of the slow crawling craft, encumbered with salt the humans harvested
I hid by its
side, hiding from the light I watched them sing or chant in unison . .
. Going by the rhythm of the wave
I reached a
small rock on shore, where I parked the salt canoe . . . A bottle of light
held by a human child shed weak light
The child
looked out to the bigger humans at sea
It asked in
a singsong voice: “Are you not going with the Others?” and I found
mine: “Not tonight, child. Perhaps later.”
I slowly materialized
as I drew myself out of the water unto the small rock, and my form reflected
from the mirrored surface
(A wizened
old man gray with age) |