I heard the dancer and choreographer, Akram Khan, use the phrase “the pleasure of drowning” in a talk he gave recently. Like an arrow, it went straight into my body/mind as soon as he said it. For me, it relates to the word perishable but puts a unique and unexpected perspective on it. Here is my response:
The Pleasure of Drowning
In those last few seconds,
fear can become curiosity
and wonder –
letting go of struggle –
all limbs in a liquid embrace.
It must be similar
falling from a great height –
the possibility of becoming
totally absorbed – pressed
hard against the invisible.
But we are earth beings.
Drowning or falling,
in water or air,
we will be returned
to earth.
Let me open myself to earth
with all the pleasure
of falling
or drowning.