At the end.
Stumbling upon a new beginning.
Like being in a dark room
and moving around,
until we finally find a wall.
Pre-defined edges,
limitations,
are a blessing
in the absence of perspective.
Perceptions shift
and the imagination creates
monsters in the abyss,
while the rational mind
explains away the real ones.
Feel along the wall.
The ninety degree connection
of wall and floor
fulfills some kind of requirement
for the brain to produce dopamine.
We would be okay
to live out your days
at this nexus
of defined boundaries.
We think it’s safe there.
Eventually, we come to learn
that down along the floor
run rats, and snakes,
and cockroaches,
so soon, we’re moving on,
feeling our way
along the wall
we cannot see,
but only feel.
We shuffle along,
inch by inch,
never knowing day or night,
only fear and exhaustion.
Finally, our fingertips
light upon some new thing.
A vertical edge,
a seam,
running from the floor
to just over head height,
then a right angle,
and running again,
the seam parallel to the floor
for about an arm’s length,
then down again,
back to the floor.
A door.
And as we run our hands
along its edges and face,
top to bottom,
our fingers encounter
the first anomaly
they have felt
since first discovering
the door in the darkness.
A metal protrusion,
almost spherical,
palm sized,
cold, metallic
and a light comes on
in our minds.
A knob to open the door.
Like a fireworks display,
emotions roil
and explode.
Hope, relief, excitement,
joy, and finally; fear.
Our hands tremble on the doorknob.
Is it locked?
Will it open?
What could possibly lie beyond
the limits of the only reality
we’ve known?
That ninety-degree junction
of floor and wall,
infinitely endless,
as far as we are concerned.
As far as we know,
this door
represents the possibility
of another kind of reality entirely,
another world,
incomprehensible in nature.
We clutch the doorknob,
shaking with anticipation.
the concept of this new frontier,
overwhelming the mind.
The idea of the existence
of another reality
implies the possibility
of something better,
or something worse,
of course.
There is always the possibility
of a more featureless darkness,
but the mind has a tendency
towards hope and fear.
Open the door
and live,
or open the door
and die.
It occurs to us
that part of our mind
is content to say
in the edge
along the wall
with the bugs and the rats.
That realization
breeds indignation
and we bit down hard on our courage
and turn the knob.
It moves easily.
Now, a new problem,
do we push, or pull?
Are we stepping in,
or stepping out?
There’s only one way
to know for sure.
Here we go.
HG – 2022
