REFLECTIONS
We stood at the very bottom of a saltwater basin
Surrounded on all sides by water and towering cliffs
Water rained down from the top of the cliffs filling our ears with a beautiful song as it fell into the water that surrounded us
On all sides our images looked back at us from the blue-green water
Reflecting in and off the water, and in and off the glistening blue-black cliffs
Our images appeared to distort and dance as they were pushed and pulled by the falling water and tiny waves
She asked me to look around, and tell her what I saw
Everywhere there was light, and moving, shimmering distorted images of us both
She told me to focus only on my image
My image - me - as dominos dancing and extending endlessly into a bright tunnel
Stretching – smaller and smaller - into infinity before finally disappearing
First, front then side then back always moving – distorting into something unrecognizable and then… the mirror image of me…standing looking back at me
Her voice seemed to come from a distance
“What do you see?”
“Time”
[pause]
“Not bad”
“The me here in the center is the only one that is real?
These others are reflections of myself walking through my life at different ages in different periods of time?”
After a briefer pause her voice seemed to come to me from an even greater distance
“No, none of them are real.
They are all merely distorted reflections of something else
In another place
Simple reflections of light
Nothing more, nothing less
None of them
Are you
None of these reflections
Including the primary reflection in the center
Are real
Or possess any real substance
They are simple reflections of events that took place long ago
In another place and another time
Far, far away”
There was a brief silence, then awareness
The water raining down from the top of the cliffs filled my ears with a haunting, yet beautiful song