A PLACE CALLED WATER
water’s ocean from below
pounding surf
sea spray carried by wind
turning sand and sun
in sweeping waves of punishment on body
taking in the last of fall
before the sheets of summer
before the final end of warmth
time of brisk sea and air
hot tea evenings
flowing together
to the never ending clock of tides
time to move on again
along the black ribbon
along the 9k rim at 130 kilometers
far north in the dome of a clear sky
in the twilight curtain before moonlight
there is the lightning
rhythm flashing reflections
glows of the echoes in a sky high canyon wall
lightning silently re-imagines my fleeting shadow
there is no north in view
now even the night hides
then an odd coincidence
the contrived measures of time
become binary
1010- on off, on, off
are subject to the flashing lightning
suddenly moving at 130 kilometers at 9k
stillness
for a blink
the strobe of insight
at 130 kpm, at 9k
nothing
total darkness
to total light
and they were the same
then there was a sudden dissatisfaction
as each instance open and closed
nothing seemed to have importance
total sight was total darkness
and the reality was in between
where is the sky?
The moon is nowhere to be seen
everything completely dominated by cloud cover
suddenly the ribbon becomes a slide
as the glimpses
left and right reveal the rising escarpment
of both sides
as the tunnel plunges downward
suddenly the walls drop away
the lighting’s ever widening view
becomes chaotic
and then there was the vast plain
spread open to the moon
an innocent beauty untouchable
finally, it rains
this is not water like the sea
no spray like foams carried on a breeze
not a water swelling from below
surf pounding the willing body
a water of sand, sea and surf
a water of a lighter texture
a whole different taste
driven by wind in a cold mountain night
standing in the frigid air becoming covered from above
swept by water onto face and limbs
water without the rhythm of the sea
a different type of relentlessness
bathing in magnificent thunder
coated by lightning
ice cold rain
water very unlike yesterdays rising waves
pulled by gravity and cast by wind
this water falls and is driven by storm
then it is time to move on again
not all who wander are lost
A.MENDOZA, 2016
