Breathe

Breathe, originally uploaded by Now and Here.

It has been a cool spring here in Toronto, with plenty of rain, and some amazing foggy days and nights. This one was last Thursday, and I found myself at a hydroelectric corridor.

Your underwater breath by Joe Landwehr


The knowledge I am seeking
cannot be found in books,
cannot be written,
cannot be thought
without turning thought inside out
to reveal the gossamer thread of its underpinning –
nothing but air.

Air.

So where shall I find such knowledge?
You find it in the water, I know.
Can I find it there, too?

I wonder.

I want to say
“take this body I won’t need it”
but who am I fooling?

In these cells
is wisdom
or at least
something ancient,
tried and true
and without it where would I be?

Dead.

Instead,
perhaps I should ignite it
with your help

and see what I can see
in the blaze of its demolition.

The knowledge I am seeking
has been here forever,
but invisible to those who seek it.

Seek it I shall not.
Feel it in your underwater breath
blowing through my heart
I shall.

"Ποταμοῖς τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐμβαίνομέν τε καὶ οὐκ ἐμβαίνομεν, εἶμέν τε καὶ οὐκ εἶμεν."

"We both step and do not step in the same rivers. We are and are not."
Heraclitus the Riddler