Acknowledgments of the Honorable Guest

Stand close to the water.

Feel the gravity of what you carry and what you hold in yourself.

Looking at the water, ask for permission to enter. Be aware of yourself as a guest.

Wait for the answer.

When you feel ready, and when the water is ready to receive you, enter and know you are connected.

Feel the water inside; feel the water outside.

Notice what you notice on entering. Slowly move into the understanding that space is being made for you as you move. Find yourself in this new realm.

Find yourself into a stillness as a creature in this space, in a new relationship to gravity.

Notice what happens when you try to find stillness.

Notice the environment. Who and what else is around you: currents, creatures, rocks, sand, vegetation.

Be there for as long as it takes to fully acknowledge yourself and your companions.

Recognize the gift of being in this space, coexisting.

Feel the water inside; feel the water outside.

Prepare yourself to exit this place of water. Take the time you need to leave, slowly making your way up to the surface. Notice what you notice on leaving. Find yourself in this new realm of transition.

Arriving on land, take a moment to look back at the water which has been supporting you. Feel your body’s physical weight out of the water.

Feel the gift of support and space, the generosity of having had the permission to be with water. Feel that the water is still with you, that you carry the metaphor and the material.

Feel the water inside; feel the water outside.

Recognize that you can return to this embodied knowledge, experience, and sensation of being part of something larger. This relationship remains.

______________________________________________________________________________

I HAVE QUESTIONS

Can you smell?

Can you hear?

Do you feel the warmth of the sun?

Do you feel an ebb and flow of the water?

What happens if you close your eyes?

Can you feel music underwater? (like a loud boom box on land)

Do you get lost?

Can you guess the time?

What is water to you?

Do you have pockets?

Do you pee where and when you want?

Do you get out of the water if you hear thunder?

Do you long for home?

Do you believe you will one day become one with the water?

After you have eaten, do you wait 30 minutes before diving?

Can you sweat underwater? (Can you get overheated? Can you take off your wetsuit?)

How long does it take to get to the surface?

How hard is it to take a single step?

Do you feel waves pushing you back and forth or side to side? Are you knocked over? Would you easily flip over or somersault?

What are you scared of?

Could you get caught in a riptide underwater?

What if I run out of air?

What do you do if you see a dangerous predator?

Do you think about the history of Pangaea?

What if your eyes itch?

Do you take things back?

What do you bring with you?

Are you aware of the camera-person?

Do you think of your day job?

Are you connected to the boat or other divers physically?

Do you interact with fish or other more than humans?

How do you communicate?

What happens if you cry into your mask?

THE END

______________________________________________________________________________

Untitled

1 We inhale–– to locate an inner cavern.

2 And, settle the gaze on surrounding geography.

3 Where is time kept in your body?

4 Maybe the belly, bowls, heart, or hollow.

5 How long have you held it there?

6 Cradle any existing heat.

7 We exhale to–– feel the warmth of our breath.

8 Swimming has helped me. Out, out, out. Into the sea.

9 Recall the sensation of letting go. Sometimes it’s suctioned. Sometimes it seeps.

10 How long before a disturbance becomes a companion?

11 And, do you have a relationship to risk?

12 A fluid, Afloat.

13 Remember reservoirs and public pools. It’s systems that have shaped us.

14 When was the last time you felt so enveloped–– or, in proximity to another’s pulse?

15 Tides crash to eventually soften.

16 But that scared the people close to me.

17 Notice the body under the weather. Notice the body under the water.

18 Temperature keeps time when your teeth start to chatter.

19 In the twilight of fogged goggles, what suddenly becomes clear?

20 They wondered if I would come back.

21 Breathing dissolves into a rhythm.

22 And I have. I always did.

23 The trick is to spit into the mask.

24 To recognize–– your bad, your best, your buoyant behavior.