For our friend Ahitza in memory of her mother.
May her memory be a blessing always.
What is the Garden of Eden?
Maybe it is what you see when you look through a mirage
on a hot day
Perhaps it is what you see in your dreams before your wake up
Perhaps it is the rainbow you find in each tiny bubble,
or a the flutter of a hummingbird's blue wings.
They can fly forever.
Perhaps the garden is an ardent embrace that lasts for eternity.
Or finally finding comfort.
Perhaps it is a garden of jewels and flowers.
Or plants and fruit trees,
of rivers and streams.
Perhaps it is somewhere in the Milky Way.
Maybe it is not a place at all, but a dimension.
Maybe it is an unlimited shopping spree.
Perhaps it is a garden made of ice
or formed from sculpted clouds.
A place crafted from letters cunningly placed
to form a g a r d e n.
Or a place where animals can peacefully roam.
Maybe The Garden is a cool breeze on a warm day.
A long drink of water from the sweating water fountain.
Or the place where we finally find Cinderella's glass slipper.
Or the other side of the rainbow.
There are no shadows in the garden.
Our shadows get lost along the way.
There are no clocks either,
no alarms,
no rush,
only calm and quiet.
There are no walls in the garden
no barriers
no hatred
no jealousy
no worries.
And in the garden there is
no competition.
Trying to impress is left behind.
Perhaps it’s a no hitter for your favorite pitcher
it’s the bottom of the 9th
and that final pitch lasts forever
along with your cheer.
There is no sickness.
no cancer.
No violence.
No cruelty.
No words that injure.
No guns, no wars.
No senseless hatred.
The Garden is a place of peace.
A place where indeed enemies can sit together in peace.
Not just words, not just words.
Maybe we can finally find the yellow brick road in in the garden
Perhaps it is a place where the Passenger Pigeon still flies.
And perhaps when we close our eyes in The Garden, we dream about something
entirely without words, a beauty we cannot even imagine.
Say goodbye to sadness, to fear.
Come to The Garden, whatever it may be.
When it is your time.
Not one minute before.
Who will greet us there
That is my only question.
Perhaps it is where you finally get to meet an angel
or become one.
