gate guardian..nandi.. the bull

it was a day like any other day these days..
hot, hot and more hot..
mila rubie ~ the finest prius in existence ~
and i were traveling up bay view road
heading who knows where..
we reached the crossroads @ farm to market ..
stopped at the sign..
i drew a deep, mindful breath..
onward.. mila invited me..
yet
looking up to turn..

across the road
behind a chain link fence
i catch sight of a mammoth dark figure ambling..
no, limping toward the gate..
what could this massive movement be?
we wondered aloud..

driving forward to the gravel inlet
a bull -
black and lame -
heading straight toward us..

i meet him at the portal..
he is ginormous ..
he is foaming at the mouth
he is covered head to hoof in flies
he is soaking wet
he is seemingly in immense pain

we are face to face
eye to eye
deep in we go
into one another's presence
momentarily transported
beyond form to essence
we wait and watch and see and listen
breathing in..breathing out..
in a spell
a unified field..
the radiant ground of being

behold the one in all things
it is the second that leads you astray.
                          ~ kabir

the flies rise and fall from his angus flesh
breathing with us
in, out..
up, down..

as easily as we fell into one another we fall away..
his left leg is weak and dwarfed in comparison to the right..
he turns away ..
circles a wide berth
hobbling from the entry
from our prayer

witnessing his slow and tortuous path
into a ravine
only his back now
hillocking
until he finds the road once more
until he is no more

what movie am i in?
what planet am i on?
where am i?
who am i?

nandi
नन्दि
the gate - guardian deity of kailasa, 
the abode of shiva. 
a mighty bull who serves 
as the mount to shiva ~

i have met the gate guardian
and he is me..

OM NAMAH SHIVAH