ephemeraluniverse
Experimental / Psychedelic |
As the evening became dusk he began to feel his breathing, very deep and strong, his lungs filling, and his chest expanding, the cool air being drawn into his nose and down his throat. He rose slowly, his feet pushing into the soft sand with each step. He wandered along the ridge to an area of large pines and sat down on a stump.
The fading light revealed the details of the ground. Many distinct and complex figures flowed over the sand. There was the smell of a wood fire in the night air and the sound of distant cars passing by. He set his hand upon the stump and felt its warmth and smoothness. Drawing his finger across it he felt so many minute rings, concentric and radiating from the center. He stood up again and scrambled up a steep little hill to harder ground.
The sky by now was dark and the moon was new. He moved on through the darkness toward a dim light.
The light emanated from a street lamp which was hung in the cemetery on the other side of a chain link fence. Two enormous trees grew a few yards apart which framed the illumined graveyard. He went to the first, on the left and touched it. Its bark was coarse and many layered. It was like the relief of an endless landscape with plateaus and weathered peaks and sharp ravines. He reached around its trunk and pulled his body against it. A sensation of warm numbness came over his torso. He felt a vibration through his feet and up his shins. He turned around and lowered his self to rest at the base of the tree.
He reached for the fence and wrapped his fingers around the links. The metal was cold and he pulled against it stretching his fingers. He heard words coming through his mouth: "I am the spirit, the air, power, omnipotence, knowledge, truth..." his voice sounded full and deep and raw. The sensation of forward motion began in his abdomen and waxed in intensity and scope until his whole body felt as if he were being hurled through space. His limbs relaxed and fell limp. He heard words again and felt them on his lips: "I am the Earth, life, and birth" his voice was full but not as deep as before. He had the sensation of a great energy exploding from his chest. His breathing hastened and he began to rock and sway. He pulled himself up and made his way along the fence, with much effort, to the other tree.
Upon reaching the other tree he collapsed against it and lay on the ground. His arms and legs left flaccid and his jaw hanging down. He felt his voice on his tongue and teeth, and heard "I am everything. I am nothing" uttered in frenzied repetition. He remained this way for sometime then got to his feet and climbed over the fence into the cemetery.
He landed on grassy ground and dropped to his knees. He turned himself sideways and rolled through the grass to the edge of a paved road. The pavement was gray and cold. Its surface was all heaves and gullies. He followed its curves with his eyes until they trailed off into darkness. It smelled of summer rain. He looked up at the headstones and monuments surrounding him. Letters cut into granite and marble and covered with lichens and moss. Faces of cement were chipped and cracked. There was silence.
He slowly stood up and began to walk. He felt his soles upon the pavement. The sound of each step echoed in the night. He smelled wood smoke again. An icy breeze blew against his face as he moved on the road. Down an incline, he eventually met with the street and made his way home.
