The Mine of Light

We are only a few days away from the summer solstice.

That means that if you are somewhere near or

on the Tropic of Cancer,

The Sun is almost directly overhead at high noon right now.

It's a marvelous thing.

Those buildings that have a little crown around their top,

mysteriously shade themselves at this time.

The dragons on the light posts in the town square

are projected faithfully to the ground below.

Even the roosters are confused by the dimming,

so they crow in the middle of the day, just in case.

Today, we made our way to the mother lode of silver mines

well before the sun had found its high place.

With more than ample lights and head gear,

We climbed up the steep mountainside to the mouth of the mine.

Down below us were the high mountain fields of corn.

Below that were the deep green orchards of avocado trees.

Below that were the irrigated green fields of the atliplano.

We were a mile above them and the pollution that rests above them.

We went down into the mine and back deep into the mountain.

We made our way down a narrow ladder to a place where we could see

our destination.

There below us was a great room that is known as the mother lode.

Using a rope tied to a beam, we dropped down to the floor 40 ft. below.

There we see a vertical shaft at the top of the room.

As the summer sun finds its place in the high heavens,

it shoots a ray of light down this shaft like the best hollywood movie.

This great room, deep in the earth, in a matter of moments,

goes from darkness to total illumination.

It awakes with red, and the shinings and reflections of crystal quartz.

We turn off our lights and play in the descending light,

We search out the nooks and crannies of the mine.

In less than an half an hour.

The time has passed.

We turn our own lights back on.

And we make our way back into the world of shadows.

But those in our party who have seen this light,

as it penetrates deep into the earth,

Know that they have seen something that marks the mind,

and stirs the heart.

And it is not soon forgotten.

For so often, the greatest magic can often be found

in the darkest times and in the deepest recesses of the creation.

There is a crack in everything,

that's how the light gets in.

L. Cohen


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