Images

drifting on a sea of colours
he let his mind meander 

like a kaleidoscope 
in shifting shapes 
the colours washed
all that he saw

following the rhythm 
of his slowly beating heart
the coloured shapes
moved 
and melted into worlds 
he had never seen before

and like a hunter
stalking his prey 
he watched

he watched until
the shapes and colours
came to rest to
touch his heart

his dreams
carry him slowly
gradually
into a silent space

his dreams
they populate this space
with images 
with memories
and he shuts his eyes
to listen to them

from far away
hardly audible
he hears their call
he hears their trusted voices
and he listens 
while they whisper him a welcome

remembered images
briefly present
now fade away
their voices fade
into a silent space
their colours fade
into a space of grey

the loud noise around him
began to soften
until all he heard was
the sound of stillness
like a gentle steady breeze

as if he’d closed his eyes
the bright and brilliant colours
muted to the soft shades of
a rain washed aquarel 

the light was neither day nor night
the air was warm and 
suffused with stillness

and in that space he rested
floating on invisible waves 

his ears were awash
with the sound of a sea
the rise and fall of the sound 
evoking 
a slow dance of waves

and he opened his eyes 

a sea of trees
stretched out before him
in wave after wave
of red and yellow leaves

the trees were swaying
with the slow rise and fall
of their dance
a dance on
the breath of the wind

and the force of the wind
sent a murmuration of leaves
on their journey

a sea of dark green treetops
below which there is no light
and from it slowly rises
a two faced mountain

the south slope
in gentle undulations
covered in fields and vineyards
basks
under a watery sun

and facing away the north
a dizzying cliff of ragged rock
clumps of frozen snow
as soft as you get to break
your fall

there then
emerging from the brooding woods
he enters the liberating light
gathering his strength he starts
the long and lonely climb
he does not stop
or catch his breath
until he's at the top
the precarious summit
with the breathtaking view