Livyatan
I walk out of my grotto
Feet slapping upon the cool smooth stone
Pebbles, sand and grit
A single thorny bush
Little survivor
My little witness
Waves in the breeze, as if to greet me
The smell of salt, wet on the air
I taste you
Memory
The ocean on this night
The terrifying black unknown
Mirror to my darkest fears
Primeval maw of the predator
The wolf in Eden…
Livyatan
I summon thee
So faint…
I could have imagined it
The sound of drums
I’m sure of it…
A cool breeze
Comforting and sweet
Whispers of something
Like an old lover who speaks sweet nothings
Tickles the ear
Suddenly, with a shudder
It becomes the whispers of a serpent
Conspiring demons…
Whispers of death
It becomes a great wind, a howling wind
Kicking up sand and dust that stings the eyes
Silent flashes in the distance
Thunder that rolls
Like the footfalls of a million soldiers…
One drop of rain, falls in the dust
Like a pebble thrown by a teasing friend
This is no friend of mine…
A second drop...then a third then a fourth
In moments the army arrives at my door
Curtains of rain begin to fall
These are not rain drops, but water stones.
A barrage of water that pummels and assaults
Suffocating, drowning.
Scream to the heavens
Garbled gargled Gargamel
Bring me, Livyatan!
A shriek, a scream, that answers in reply
Did it come from the sea?
Did it come from the sky?
I feel it through the earth
As if mother earth herself, recoils in horror
At what I have summoned
A monstrous bellow
Cuts through the roar of the rain and the sea
But this time, there is no mistake
It is the beast
Is it my imagination?
My G-d it must be
The borders of the sea
They are rising, expanding
As if the ocean itself is attempting to escape
To flee before the abomination that rises
In brief flashes
I see something
Something that curdles the blood
Involuntary shivers
As witness to that which should not be
Cloven from the immortal
Light bringer
Cursed by his sin
Little dancing shapes to the east and west
Frolicking tendrils
Dancing to the tune of some, unholy music
The cacophonous, chthonic…chaotic
Shrill laughter
Of death
The brush beside my cave
Water flowing in…now swirling about their roots
The sound of the surf begins to rise up in my ears
Growing to a deafening roar that overcomes the pounding rain
I can hear waves crashing upon the shore…
I am far from the shore
To my left and right, waves crest upon the hills
Again it bellows…it moans…out of sync somehow
Reverberating, hauntingly
Like a soul not quite connected to the flesh
I peer through the darkness
My eyes attempting to pierce through the sheets of rain
The wind
The impenetrable blackness
A flash illuminates…what is this?
A second horizon? A mountain?
I crane my neck
I had been looking straight ahead
When I should have been looking…up
My G-d
What have I done?