(then the unwinding…

special words passed along from a dream

while my love went off swimming somewhere)

and as the stonecutter approached I immediately froze

even before words were spoken,

trembling, my new passion.

in moments, I lay down in the grass prostrate before him,

baring my chest to accept his dagger.

but at once, a fierce wind kicked up

sending me rolling down a hill,

with each turn picking up more speed,

till the next moment I became suspended in air.

I could no longer feel my body,

I was somewhere inside a spinning top,

whirling,

having no ability to resist even a curious fly.

I became a leaf.

a flower.

a discarded seed of fruit.

a flame.

I had passed on to another side…

and as the three of us stood in some garden wind,

he repeated it was useless to resist:

“she is much more powerful than you now.

and you have seen to that.

I am nothing more than a catalyst speaking as her teacher.

you have merely died, and any power you possess

comes not from this world,

for love has made you its casualty"

he continued:

"to fight us now would turn you into a zombie,

a man who only steals

the real life flow from the living.

would you be content to gnaw away at her flesh to survive?

no, you must surrender, sit in silence

and disclose your true feelings solely to your own fleeting self

as your soul abandons you in your solitude.

a fierce wind will continue blowing all around you!

surrender!

accept your death!

let the transformation begin,

for we are an unmovable force!”

so I ran, frantically seeking a mirror,

but all that I found had been covered with white towels

as it is done by the Hebrews when a loved one passes.

I reached for some water to help rid myself of this burning thirst but tasted only seawater.

I called out to my friend but recognized, after their first kiss, she was long gone to him.

at last I understood I was truly alone, first searching, then frozen, without breath.

and I died that night.

will anyone who cherishes a soul still recognize me?

from somewhere: “I will said the magician. It is my pleasure to collect broken souls and pitch them as pennies into a fountain. And yours is a rare one, indeed! It will be a time before you sink, and I shall enjoy the trick, for my time is eternal!”

then another voice: “I shall recognize you”, said the astrologer. “I have studied you and have come to learn your heart is more extensive and more vulnerable than most. All that fire, indeed! Your ideals are like slipping cards under the table of life. You have been a fool to think you could continue to survive in this game, for one cannot bluff the dealer, the one who owns the cards!”

And can I still dream in my waking hours?

Can I have the dreamer take me and weave me and sing me her songs?

Oh, it gets lonely in there!

I am fearful, but Love does not know how to let me down.

Paths cross and sometimes it feels they are one.

Can these journeys be separate yet still walked together?

I know that I have let my love down somewhere, my blindness, this damned fire inside that makes me move too quickly and perceive too often from only my consciousness.

It was this false courage I turn to when I cannot admit I must slow down.

When we cannot breathe.

Others have tried showing me a road and tomorrow they were gone.

This time it is different.

My teacher is restless and her hands are full, but her heart is not empty of love!