I must open the window, if just a crack.

The artifice of this room – the mechanical hum of the refrigerator, the intruding glare of the light bulbs, the manufactured separation – suffocates me.  I am ensconced in a straight jacket, ten feet square. 

An instinctive wisdom greater than myself insists I belong on the earthly side of the wall. 

I must open the window to let the inside out, so I will not be crushed by the white walls that cage me.

***

A trio of creatures weave their sound through the mangroves and damp air to fill my ears with a single, hypnotizing song.  

And I am still. 

My pores expand, skin delighting in the moist air, earthy and warm.

And I am open.

My eyes seek the serenity of the stars, their brightness piercing my shell,  tenderizing my spirit.

And I am fertile. 

My soul floats on the promise of communion, slowly expanding to fill the immensity of the night.

And I am buoyant.

My nostrils absorb the sweet scent of organic decay, lungs starved for the oxygen that will muzzle the chatter of my mind.  

And I am hungry. 

The mind, alone, remains; stubbornly clinging to solidity, shutdown only by the clever harmony of dissolution.  

***

The water laps, delicate in its coaxing.

The air whispers, confident of its existence. 

The light silhouettes, modest in its revelations.

I am enveloped, 

Existing as one while dissolving into all. 

My soul is freed,

through the open window.