Copyright 2010 Roberta Osborn. All rights reserved.

Dreams of the Borderland

Power Supply

I am standing ankle-deep in sweet wet grass looking at green mountains in every direction. The

peaks are craggy and steep and lushly forested. They silently recede and emerge from dense

drifts of fog. I feel the fog on my face. It is cool and it brings bright pink patches to my cheeks.

Everything is hushed, moving slowly with the silent tide of clouds descending and wrapping

themselves tenderly around the hills. I have a sense of the ancient history of the earth, and of

Man's eternal connection to the earth.   The rice paddies in the valley before me also disappear

and reappear in the mist, and speak of careful patient tending to the ways of the earth. I turn

slowly with my

face to the sky

and feel the

deep green of

the trees as if it

were a soft

blanket around

my shoulders

and a cushion

for my mind. I

belong to the

earth, and the

earth belongs

to me.

Twin fawns

emerge from

the woods at

my left. They

are tiny and

delicate, with precious, precise legs and large soft eyes.  They look briefly in my direction and

blink. I reach to one, but they have vanished. I feel honored to have seen such gentle creatures.

A bird song rings out from the hushed forest in five pure notes. It is fleeting, but I understand the

song as though I suddenly knew another language. I hear how much joy it relates.  It is praise for

all that is. There is no ambiguity about it. The sound is beautiful and harmonious and it resonates

in my mind for a long time after I hear it. I step into the woods and feel the protection of the trees

envelop me.

I inhale deeply and now I am a dark eagle taking wing, slowly at first, but then with greater and

greater power as I gain purchase on the air. I soar through the clouds, my wings dampened, and

suddenly I burst through into a clear blue sky. I am soaring higher toward the brilliant sun and the

clouds beneath me are luminous white. The green peaks stick up through the blanket of clouds

like islands in a sea of pure hope. I rise out beyond the clouds over a shining expanse of dark

blue ocean. The water is warm and I catch a thermal and rise even higher. I can see horizon

bending away from me in every direction. My perspective is limitless. I am at home in the sky,

perfectly adapted. Small adjustments of my wing tips keep me soaring and gliding, effortlessly.

There is a ocean cruiser at the horizon and I am suddenly drawn down to it as simply as

refocusing my eyes. It is about to embark. I wish to board. I am asked what kind of customer I will

be. My response is to dive into the water and say, "See, I can swim." I dive deeper and deeper

into the water until I encounter a glass-like transparent fish, with black eyes set in silver rims. I

rise with the fish in a column of expanding bubbles. I look up the side of the ship. It is immense,

with intricate carving on both sides. I know the carving has meaning, and I stare at it for some

time, but I cannot decipher it. I bring the fish to the deck. It waggles back and forth in my hand. It

has become solid now and full of personality and wisdom. I stroke it on the nose with my finger

and it says "I'll be there if you need me, but you probably won't." The people standing on the deck

nod their heads approvingly.

I am at home and I find the power company doing maintenance in the basement. Sturdy men in

orange hardhats are putting in new panels of colored lights and new glass doors all around. I walk

in the back door and ask them what they are doing. They say, "We have just finished increasing

the power. Here are the controls." I am surprised, because I didn’t order more power. They say,

"Don’t worry about it. You've been entitled to it from the beginning." I turn to my friend and ask