Facing the ocean, I stood in a doorway with no door. It was made out of ancient rocks, it was unsteady and full of cracks, and, it was built on sand. Nevertheless, I stood high and observed the ocean. Once, a horseman passed with a basket of fresh herbs. I accepted the herbs, the passion and generosity of healing, turned my face, and I let him go. Once, a lady passed with a basket full of fragrant blossoms. I accepted the promise of life, the promise of never-ending new beginnings, and I let her pass. Once, a child was running with a group of colorful butterflies and in her hand she held a kite soaring so high with a rainbow tail of dreams, manifesting with each step. I watched her pass as I envied her. Once, a group of unknown spirits passed lovingly smiling at me; vast, as the unknown beautiful as uncertainty, unreachable as answers, and familiar as nothing and everything. I closed my eyes, so afraid of the possibility of them being real. Recently, an old being stood in front of my doorway and without uttering a word asked me, how long was I going to stand in a fragile doorway without ever stepping forward? I said, I know of a whale in the vastness of this ocean and sometimes, I just close my eyes and the whale hears me. One day, I will walk to the ocean get on the back of that whale and go to the endless unknown. I looked into the unknown's eyes an old hand was stretched and I grabbed it stepping outside of the doorway. The smell of apples, herbs, blossoms, the ocean,and the presence of eternity, What could be more magical? What could be so uncertainly reassuring? No, I do not need to follow the colorful butterflies or enviously look at the birds soar or a kite of my dreams vanishing in the beyond. The hand I grabbed was my own and when I smell the apple, somehow, I know that nothing matters.
Hydeh Aubon (2/1/09)
