in the blue gallery

in the blue

there is something in the human mind that is undefined, porous, full of ambiguity and
possibility. I will call it blue. Blue is something that cannot be grasped. An endless opening
drawing one beyond the boundaries of what one knows. Blue is a place from which one is
born and to which one returns when one dies; it’s traces lingering in our minds, between
one thing and another. Blue is the thin membrane between reality and imagination,
between reason and impulse. Blue is an unexpected sound, a smell, the light on a
doorknob, the peel of a grape or the fleeting look in the eyes of a stranger. Blue is that
moment of distracted thought when one finds oneself suddenly floating in the
unfathomable of life, free and captive at once.
Blue is a dance. A free fall.

there on the ledge looking out
the earth below fuses into an endless sea
you imagine plunging into the folds
losing yourself free as a bird
but you don’t move you stand mesmerized
your feet wedged tight against the small protrusions of rock
clinging to life it’s your place you say
there where the hypnotic blue fills your veins
the portal to the hidden self
a place to be, dream, forgive, forget
you have a demanding workload
most days back to back meetings
facing a small office window
on the 14 th floor of your high-rise office
you look out towards the mountains
it’s almost like being on the ledge you say
only there is no possibility to jump
not that you ever would
but the glass between you and the air
kills the feeling of freedom
in the distance thin blue lines finely marking
where the sky touches the earth
the smell of forest comes to mind
sometimes you have to get away
you are stuck in traffic
the lights from the car in front of you
flickering blood red in the raindrops on your windshield
the smell of exhaust trickling in
from a large truck in the adjacent lane
you tap your fingers on the steering wheel

hum to a song you’ve heard time and time again
the blue light of your cellphone
glowing next to you on the passenger seat
climbing to the ledge the evening breaks
on the branches of a cedar tree
thin blades of grass bending to the air
you see a heart with a name engraved
beyond the blue deepens
you recall the sea where you were born
you take off your shoes
step onto the cool rock
close to the edge
you can see for miles
you feel like a golden child
floating in time and space
it is past midnight you cannot sleep
it’s been a tough day, further lay-offs they said
you might as well get up
take a drive, look out again
life after all is short
the roads are empty
the line in the middle of the road
is tinged with blue
you leave the city limits
the sudden quiet putting things in place
back on the ledge
you feel the earth breathing
you look out eyes wide open
far out into the shimmering darkness
slowly you retrace the day
the cars the people the buildings
the snippets of news that caught you
between one thing and another
the recent earthquake a collapsing bridge
dirty politics drought
one by one they surface
before drifting into the blue
you think of your children
your daughter playing the piano
you look into the shadows below
glimpse the atoms of the earth
shifting and stirring with life
beauty you say to yourself outloud

your voice cutting the silence
you head back to town
tomorrow there would be early meetings at the office
I asked you what painting is
you said painting means giving yourself to a place
giving expression to your eyes
giving expression to the eyes of others
it means imagining how others see things
it means learning to see
like learning to play a song
I asked you what love is
you said
not to give up hope