by David Roth
(c) 23 May, 2004
That accompanied its appearance.
Brilliant, inspiring, dark and foreboding,
A hole in space and time opened
And swallowed me intact.
A well, resplendent in texture and color.
Deep and wide a fabric unraveled;
Showering me with strands of thread
From the tapestry of my life.
Separating, warp from woof,
To reveal long lost images;
Memories of places, times and people.
Shadows and ghosts.
Dancing in a swirling maelstrom.
Light and sound,
Thought and deed,
Intertwined within the well
Of memory opened before me.
The simple melody of simpler times
Balanced in careful counterpoint
With boisterous glissandos
And dreamy harmonies.
Brazen fanfares trumpeted in and out
Woven carefully in the tapestry
Around intricate harmonies
And the steady pulse
That was the rhythm of my life.
A montage of images draped the walls of the well
Each coated in the essential oils of life.
From the warm slumbering memory
Of bread baking in some far off oven in time
To the sweet nectar of romance
Sultry and sensuous
Rekindling the sensation
Of a soft touch, or gentle kiss,
And the intoxicating ether of salt
Carried aloft on sea-born breezes.
Deeper into the well I peered.
Smiling at the recollection
Of this memory or that.
Brushing a stray trickle of
Salt laden mist from my eye
Fearful that the vision would continue
And more fearful that it would end.
Faces and places
Hopes and tears
Fortunes and funerals
Spirit songs and dirges
Flashes of light
Curtains of gloom
All before me in the well
Of space and time
That carried aloft my soul.
The portal of who I have been
Blending who I am
Into who I will be.
This well of pain and delight
Awakens the sleeping giant
Of memory good and bad,
And serves to make me whole.
So for the moment the well remains
A constant reminder
Of the journey of my life
And a place to store trappings
Of future journeys.
Not subject to my beck and call
As slave to master,
But rather conjoined
As a sweet and tender mistress
To serve and be served;
The well that is my essence
That was
And is
And shall be.
