Conversation on Loon Lake, Alaska, night, Rabbi Shulman having just climbed out of the cold waters of the lake into the fishing boat:

Joel: “Rabbi, what are you doing here?”
Rabbi Shulman: “You go where the search takes you.”
Joel: “What’s it like down there?”
Rabbi Shulman: “It’s dark, Joel.  It’s dark and it’s deep.”

What is out there when it is dark and deep
where we come from, where we sleep?

I see it outside my night window
hear the flailing of winter winds
as shadows and ghosts who won’t
make themselves known
except I quit my warm home
its lights and human comforts
to go out where I can hear
the Spirit’s sensual call, feel
its chill breath on my skin
dive into deep baptismal waters
be born again from out of a dark womb.

Portland, Oregon – February 28, 2019

My opening lines are from a 1994 Northern Exposure episode titled “A Fish Story,” spoken by characters Rabbi Alan Shulman and Dr. Joel Fleishman.