It all opened up

Camped in a clearing
for over a year.
Maybe more.
The nightly ritual campfire was blazing.
That particular night
I stoked it higher than usual.
Maybe because I’d felt eyes watching me all day.
Scarier at night.
That’s when the voices started in
oozing from the many wounds in my soul.
Crying out at once.
Some kind of terror.
Throbbing heart
with blood pumping.

A single voice sounded out from the cacophony
And clearly said: jump in the fire.
The tone of this voice
was different.
I trusted it, although even today I don’t know why.
And I jumped right on in.
Surprisingly,
the flames felt cool.
The coolness burned away my clothes,
My flesh, my bones.
Still no pain. No more fear.

I became smoke,
soaring.
Into the Milky Way, mingling with stars.
More darkness for a time,
I felt myself tumbling through the sky.

Heading east
into the sunrise
where the Light
pierced me,
an x ray into my soul.

I squinted into the light and warmth of the sun
and it all opened up.

5-26-08