EinC

The greatest illusion about Time is that we can fight it.
In point of fact, we are, each of us — already dead.

Imagine we are camping in the lush pastures overhanging the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast of Ireland.

A strong sea-breeze blows up and over us.

Hundreds of meters below we hear the ocean relentlessly pounding shale back into sand.

Through clouds, in the distance, we see the ghostly Aran Islands.
Seagulls soaring a mile high, just out of reach, tempt us to touch them —

— When suddenly we realize we’ve leaned too far!! —

Our toes are still touching turf, but we are definitely going to fall!!
For a full moment, we twist our bodies looking for something to grab.
Or maybe someone will rush up to rescue us.
Or perhaps we can save each other?

— But no!! We are airbone!! —

We fall.
We scream.
We catch our breath.
And we scream again —
— We fall for a long while more. . .

In the pasture above sits a Leprechaun with a twinkle-in-his-eye
puffing on his longpipe, cocking an ear?
— Dey gonna scream alla way down? — he wonders.

But wait — is that not laughter he hears, floating up on the sea-breeze —
As, finally, we merge with the Sea.

Our deaths in real life are as certain as in the story above.

The moment we leaned too far was the moment we were born.
And those seconds when our feet were still touching,
they symbolize the innocence of our youth.

At some point, maybe you were 7, maybe 12 — you understood
(somewhere, truly, deeply in your bones) that you were going to die!

— Then you were airborne! —

For how long will we cry out in terror?
At what point will we remember to laugh??

Will we claw at the cliffs all the way down?
Or will we unfold our wings better to admire the flight??

Each of us chooses how we shall fall.
And at which point in our lives we will awaken.

Living in fear, is not really living —
— Fear is ‘the little death’ before death.

Yet not everyone is afraid.

Some remember to laugh.
— They glide so gracefully — so silently — so full of Love.

May we all remember
exactly what we need to remember,
and love, love, love!