Hezekiah’s tunnel

It is dark. There is no light here.  Not in front, not behind, not above, not below.

Reaching out

you touch

rough hewn stone, sometimes barely wider

than your shoulder.

And above; sometimes you have to bend

to pass through.

Even a flashlight

does little to dispel the darkness.

It is entire,

enclosing you

on every

side.

Your eyes are irrelevant.

Time stops.

But below, there is water.

Not-quite-knee-deep, filling the passage.

Cool.

Flowing.

Alive.

And when you pause

you hear a sound.

Splash.

Someone

is ahead of you.

Lord, you have searched me out and known me;you know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You trace my journeys and my resting-places and are acquainted with all my ways. Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, but you, O Lord, know it altogether. You press upon me behind and beforeand lay your hand upon me. Psalm 139:1-4