I walked ...
All the way up to the waters edge
when you stand here people at the top of that cliff can hear anything you say
even if you whisper.
Sometimes, I think they can hear everything you think, too.
Even if you shut your eyes to hold the floodgates of thought back
they catch the wind just like the ribbons of steam coming off the water
here
in this early morning.
It must have been hot yesterday.
They say that if you walk into this water and lie on your back, you’ll never drown.
It is that salty
you are that buoyant.
And I wonder who it was that tried to drown in the Dead Sea
and found it impossible.
Did they also on that day
find the will to keep living?
Or did they just walk to Galilee and on their way tell the others
not to take that tiny ocean at its word.
Most places are marked by the memories of joy and pain that have existed within them.
But the Dead Sea is more joy than not.
As I stand here, whispering prayers to the ridge above, I think maybe I should learn from that.
