twice (a repost)

twice in my life have i found myself in a time/space where everything was right.i could check the exif file to find out what day of the week it was, but the ones and zeroes don’t matter. the five of us present do.

a cramped convertible made us uncomfortably comfortable with one another. california was gracious enough to lend us her weather for the afternoon. we came for the library but left for the train museum by way of the unexpected shuttle. when our feet touched sidewalk again, we let them lead. our hearts followed close behind.

it was made up of more than the art house where we found ourselves wondering. and i’m certain that i could retrace those steps and not feel that way again. blue skies and green grass have never had that affect on me before regardless of how silent i remain as i lie somewhere betwixt the two. Mr. Paparazzo himself would be unable to capture the wonder of it all no matter which lens he chose to shoot us through.

maybe it was the generic gummy bears and our wind swept hair-do’s as we listened to stephen jenkins seeming commentary on our day that were the cause of it all.

twice

i remember the second time fortune smiled on me. i walked up a pile of steps in the unfortunate part of town.

low level lighting peeled the paint from the walls as i secondhanded some half a pack. i came ready to participate in the liturgy of rock and roll. i’d been to many services offered by many different denominations always a willing participant, always happy to be a part of what was happening before me. regardless of how well i could recite my verse-chorus-verse scripture, i had never felt like this before. the clergyman was a travelling knife salesman from arkansas who breathed life itself into that tired building. and as the maytag percussioin matched the beating of my heart, i heard the music that the angels do ringing loud and clear.

and all i could think about was how much i wanted to live and die in this room. how i imagined my bride floating on the hardwood floor in my future. everything was right. time/space had found me with my guard down, naked and unable to absorb.

as i headed back down that flight of stairs, i couldn’t help but wonder if i was descending jacob’s ladder or the stairway to heaven. it didn’t really matter. no tired cliche was ever going to be enough. every color bled that night as i tried to hold on to the vapor of the time/space.

i don’t know when or where it will find me again but, i’ll spend the rest of my life looking for moments full of this drive thru mysticism. moments to help me remember that we’re all woven from the same piece of fabric.