[here it is! an interlaken haibun ~ achieved & drafted up on august 3rd, 2009 (one year ago). i've clearly done some editing here (quite a bit in fact), but hopefully you like it. hope you don't mind the slightly cheesy photo of our highway looming heads - brotherhood is a beautiful thing. enjoy]
{sun~glimmered~elations}
eager & brimming with brotherhood ~ we set out one by one.
up from a bicycled horizon comes a house as yellow as the sun. it speaks midday shade thru trees to a tender wind leaning so slightly into the sails of our skin ~ directing the gaze of our soaring thoughts to the top of the overseeing water tower: still stanced & sky blue as noon ~ it calls to be filled ~ it glints & exults over our unspoken words as they consent & spill forth like gasoline into a blazing torch ~ {for You oh God} ~ flaming blue within the hands of our outstretched minds!
with the strength of our hearts ~ we pedal on ~ striving amid the endless husks of corn that know our names: by the sounds ~ by the whirrs & the whispers ~ by the voice of the Spirit ~ calling us forward ~ row by row ~ by row by row ~ as shadows led by birds across the highway carry the secret that life will surely evaporate into an eternal sky.
as far as we can see ~ new growth is stretching outward & reaching upward in worship & hope as clouds look on in blissful wonder. why ~ wide-eyed ~ must we strive to see such things?
in the midst of a slow descent ~ thru two open doors that peer out from opposite ends of a great, cavernous barn ~ our eyes behold the fields of the Lord ~ sustained in this now! ~ sustained even right now!!
further on ~ upon the gentle sway of corn tassels ~ our eyes skip like stones ~ stopping only for a single tree that a thrown stone could never reach.
with thoughtful turns we treadle on ~ through lush green hymns of sun glimmered elations ~ pressing deeper into a land that is permeated with fertility & perpetually emanates with sweet aromas ~ until slowly we approach ~ just beyond the roadside ~ a secluded tree oasis ~ bonsai-like & growing out of a small body of water ~ and this amazes us ~ for the moment at least… ~ …until the unseen bird emerges… ~ …a blue heron! ~ (prehistoric, slow-motion wing thrusts sending it off into the sun) ~ and we intend to watch it retreat forever with nothing in the sky to prevent us ~ baffling over such a big bird in such a small tree… ~ …and then it happens again… ~ …a red-tailed hawk springs right out of the very same small oasis tree ~ right over top of our thoroughly blown minds ~ and sets sail in the completely opposite direction of the heron!! ~ what kind of . . . ! ! prophecy <({})> ycehporp ! ! . . . is this? ~ each one in plain sight of our gaping heads ~ we pivot & gasp & sigh ~ we gasp & laugh & pivot ~ and with nothing much to say ~ we shake our heads & re-mount our bikes.
~ ~ ~ O ~ O ~ ~ ~ coast ~ ~ ~ O ~ O ~ ~ ~
subtle are the sounds that send one-hundred black birds up from hiding ~ whirling as one like a garment in a gale, then sinking swiftly into the silence of a vast & living nest.
“look there.” ~ a contorted ladder mounted at the top of a silo ~ seems to be cowering beneath the weight of the sky, or bowing at the thought of ascension maybe. “and there.” ~ up from some stack ~ a cloud goes smoking like a prayer into heaven.
we come upon a village and pull off for a rest and a look around. having a drink up a stony way we encounter two things most precious ~ twins ~ two, maybe three years old & adorned in purple from head to toe ~ long, afternoon locks of exploratory hair peering out from the neatly tucked coverings of the morning ~ shy, searching eyes ~ Amish hearts with sin dwelling somewhere within, but you’d never know it from looking. we wander about from jams to cheeses ~ exchanging smiles & glances ~ such beauty and a full life here. minding our own now, we saddle up with a wave & begin to find our way back home.
