Treeless.
Gravel embedded in hands as my forehead meets the hard surface of your sand…
softens, nestles left to right.
You’re new to me.
Arms flung forward gripped towards my wrist.
It was my elbows that formed the house that invited you in.
Limbs spoke and drove through passing time.
What do you feel under the brilliant heated sky?
Ribcage –first bones of neck
Pelvis sits back.
Direction not just up –but down, across, over
And through.
Eyelets of my elbows open behind me. They call to the space. Hands press wholly into the sand.
Perched.
On the edge of the foot
the raw sand warms and with it I fell through.
And sky you fell to meet me.
I’ve never met a place like you before. I can see across your land for miles. Time and space here feel distorted. No trees and few points of reference, landmarks or signposts, except for the black mountains far to my left. Your sun and winds are free of obstructions. The sun relentlessly warms and leathers my skin while the wind works to blow me over –ceaselessly coming from front, behind, below, up and down and across my body. All directions meet together to keep me standing. The huge sky above see everything. Stillness can only last so long, but initially stillness is the only way I can register and listen. Expansive, not just in the ground distance endless, but the sky sits so low…I see that they meet as equals and are admired as such.
(Dance performed by Tamin Totzke. Music by Bexar Bexar. Filmed and Edited by Ronen Schechner. Text by Tamin Totzke.)