The Veils

The Veils

The veils flap back and forth before me,
blowing in the sweet breeze and
soaking up the precious sunshine of this world.
I gingerly approach them from a distance,
intending  to walk  through them,
to feel  them part  with my presence
as I push this weary body and mind
from one line to the next.
 Cautiously intent on getting to
the giggling shadows
that dance mysteriously on the other side,  
I take one slow step at a time.
I extend my hand before me,
partly because I am  curious
to know how my touch
will respond to these delicate soft fibers
and  also because I  feel
the need to protect myself
from that which lay beyond each veil .


I reach the first line and
watch in awe as the veils there
flap noisily in the wind...
I watch  as they lift high towards the clouds,
billowing with a freedom and a looseness
that traps the whole world in makeshift  parachutes
and then I watch as they are  snapped back  
with a whoosh to the other side....
Their threads are  like long ballerinas on point shoes, 
leaping  into this world I am a part of and
then bowing and tip toeing  back
into the shadows of the stage,
in a perfect choreographed response
to the music of Life.  


I grasp  a veil and
I hold it in my hand,
bringing it to my nose,
so I can  breathe in
the fresh clean  realness of it.
It seems so flimsy , so transparent
like a worn cotton sheet
against my weary flesh.
How could I not see beyond this
to the mysteries it hid?
How did I think this  would protect me
or keep me warm?
I drop my hand to my side.

I allow  every inch of this veil  to
 caress  me as
I walk through it, under it, beyond it.
The light around me changes as I do,
warming me to the core
and making me shiver at the same time.

Though the grass beneath my bare  feet
is still familiar,
I know I have stepped beyond
my comfort zone of physicality.
Part of me wants to go back...
but the shadows up ahead ,
beyond the deeper veils,
continue to whisper my name,
as they giggle and run about
with their promises of more.
I continue to make my way towards them.
I am going home
to the truth beyond the veils.

Dale-Lyn (March 23, 2020)