Barry Stepe in the North Carolina Mountains

 

La Voz by Barry Stepe

La Voz

Through the currents,
a voice passes by,
past the broken sea shells and glowing fish,
past seaweed and sunken ships
and arrives untouched
except by my slippery hands
and brings with it
a great glow exploding in the sky.

The voice plants itself firmly in the sandy earth
and grows independent of time
and when it finally blossoms,
it fills this gap of space
with songs so sweet
that jealous waves leap forward
in gigantic surges
demanding it back,
their great lips,
frothing at the mouth.

But the voice is rooted in the earth,
no longer a formless fluid
drifting with unspoken waves.
It is here with me now
and lives ingrained in the salty sand
and volcanic ash.

A voice of endless sun.

I inhale deeply
and feel it living inside me.