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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

All Laid Out - with audio

audio link

I closed my eyes
And was all laid out
On the seaside picnic table
The warm sun shone down
On my face
Like a giant floodlight
The weight of the sky
Pressed down on my chest,
Pinned my shoulders,
And flattened me
Against the bench
Wind rushed over my body
Like ocean waves
Running to and from the shore 
Pushing my soul
Further and further
Out to sea.
Seagulls slashed out 
With shrieks 
To rebuff all invisible threats  

So I stretched out still further
To beyond the event horizon
There I wept
As I embraced those
Whom I had mostly forgotten
Faces so pure
That I wondered at
Their bright eyes
And soft complexions
Emotions flooded my soul
As I grieved
For not having seen
Their goodness
In too long a time,
While joy turned me
In riptide the other way

There we were, glimmering
Above the farthest stars
Dancing in a silent symphony
No want, no desire,
No wondering of anything
Other than the celebration shared
Raised up
Like a spray
Upon the spiral universe
In peace and stillness
Against a tidal crown of love
Then, an unseen hand
Waved a wind upon all,
'Til like sand in the Sun's warmth
We flew away
In currents and eddies
Sparkling in the light,
Each settling back
To the place
Of his or her belonging

Some to the heavenly
Waters above
And I to breathe
At the ocean's door
On the bench
By the shore,
My cheeks streamed
With salt water
My heart not knowing
How to stop

Though it be
Not right to say,
All that I am
Would rather stay
Raised above
With those I've loved,
Than here,
Laid out
In breezes,
On this day.

In memory of my Parents, David Horton and many others.