Canticle 296

Here we are in Tarsus
facing the sea
with the desire to go anywhere
perhaps swimming
to lose ourselves
basically
to lose ourselves in the intoxication
of the depths
or the heights
and perhaps rediscover
the blinding clarity
literally blinding
that changed our lives
once
and forever

Here we are in Tarsus
facing the sea
not wanting to ask ourselves
what we will do next

Here we are in Tarsus
facing the sea
with the urge to throw ourselves in
for all the symbolism
as much the purification
as the embrace of the unknown
as the search for a sea monster
from which we might emerge
as if it were all
just a bad dream

Here we are in Tarsus
facing the sea
contemplating all that our life
is no longer
and wondering
if our life will be
the question is not so much
fullness
or fulfillment
but finally the feeling
of not having been
totally
useless to our fellow human beings

Here we are in Tarsus
facing the sea
perhaps wondering
if all this makes any sense
if love isn’t a hallucination
if the voices we hear
if the impulse that drives us
doesn’t stem
rather
from psychiatry
as some say
or from the will
of power
and to enslave
since they don’t know how to
think anything else

Here we are in Tarsus
facing the sea
addressing the Son intimately
since we hold his hand

Here we are in Tarsus
facing the sea
before the enormous evidence
of the Spirit
hovering above the waters
as always

Here we are in Tarsus
facing the sea
wondering if we have the right to live
or only to exist
to bear witness
to be crushed in service
of to annihilate ourselves for eternity

Here we are in Tarsus
facing the sea
suddenly understanding
the deceptive conflation
we have erected
between eternal life
and the world after

Here we are in Tarsus
facing the sea
searching the rocks
to find the germination
the vibration
of this life
perpetual
eternal
conducive to wonder
and gratitude
that we have projected
too far from ourselves
thinking we were doing better
more honorably
by pushing back the horizon
of a brighter tomorrow

Here we are in Tarsus
facing the sea
having to cross
the door of departure
and that of return
to finally grasp
the oneness of it all
the true meaning
of eternity
of grace
of support
of blessing