第72章 The Face of the Deep

The deep showed its face. Not a face. Not eyes and a mouth and a nose and ears. The deep's face was the ground. The deep's face was the earth. The deep's face was the root, the mold, the water, the trees, the house, the woods, the sky, the world. The deep's face was everything that was beneath the surface and everything that was above it, and the face was the deep's way of being seen, the deep's way of showing itself, the deep's way of saying: I am here, and this is what I look like, and what I look like is the ground, and the ground is the deep, and the deep is here. Eli saw the face. He saw it in the chamber, in the root, in the mold, in the water, in the trees, in the house, in the woods, in the sky, in the world. The face was everywhere. The face was the deep's way of being visible, the deep's way of touching the light, the deep's way of being what it had always been, the ground that holds the world up, and the holding was the deep's face, and the face was the deep, and the deep was here. Nora saw the face too. She stood in the chamber with Eli, and she saw the deep's face in the root's surface, in the mold's glow, in the water's spiral, in the trees' branches, in the house's walls, in the woods' shadows, in the sky's light, and the face was the deep's way of being known, the deep's way of being understood, the deep's way of saying: I am not a mystery. I am not a secret. I am the ground, and the ground is this. This is the deep's face. This is the deep's way of being seen. And the deep spoke, and the speaking was the face, and the face was the deep's way of being visible, and the visible was the deep's way of being known, and the known was the deep's way of being itself, and the self was the deep, and the deep was here. The face was not a face. The face was everything. The face was the root's surface, smooth and seamless, and the face was the mold's glow, green-gold and pulsing, and the face was the water's spiral, dark and turning, and the face was the tree's branches, spreading through the ceiling, and the face was the house's walls, covered with the deep's skin, and the face was the ground beneath the floor, warm and alive, and the face was the sky above the roof, gray and cold and distant. The face was the deep's way of being seen. The deep had been invisible for so long, hidden beneath the root, beneath the house, beneath the ground, and the invisibility had become a kind of identity, the deep as the thing you could not see, the thing you could only feel, the thing you could only hear in the low hum of the foundation and the slow pulse of the root. But the deep was visible now. The deep was in the mold, and the mold was on the walls, and the walls were in the house, and the house was in the world, and the world was the deep's home, and the home was the keeping, and the keeping was the door, and the door was open. Eli saw the face. He saw it in the chamber, in the root, in the mold, in the water, in the trees, in the house, in the woods, in the sky, in the world. The face was everywhere. The face was the deep's way of being present, the deep's way of being known, the deep's way of saying: I am not a mystery. I am not a secret. I am the ground, and the ground is this. This is the deep's face. This is the deep's way of being seen. Nora saw the face too. She stood in the chamber with Eli, and she saw the deep's face in everything, and the seeing was the keeping, and the keeping was the door, and the door was open. And the deep spoke, and the speaking was the face, and the face was the deep's way of being visible, and the visible was the deep's way of being known, and the known was the deep's way of being itself, and the self was the deep, and the deep was here. The face was the deep's identity. The deep had been without a face for so long that the facelessness had become a kind of identity, the deep as the thing you could not see, the thing you could only feel. But the face was visible now, in the mold, in the root, in the water, in the trees, in the house, in the world. The face was the deep's way of being known. The deep had been unknown for so long that the unknowing had become a kind of mystery, the deep as the thing you could not understand, the thing you could only fear. But the face was visible now, and the seeing was the knowing, and the knowing was the deep's way of being understood, and the understanding was the keeping, and the keeping was the door, and the door was open. The face was the deep's way of being present. The deep had been absent for so long that the absence had become a kind of identity, the deep as the thing that was not there, the thing that waited beneath the surface. But the face was visible now, and the seeing was the presence, and the presence was the deep, and the deep was here. Eli saw the face in everything. He saw it in the root's surface, in the mold's glow, in the water's spiral, in the tree's branches, in the house's walls, in the ground beneath his feet, in the sky above the roof. The face was everywhere. The face was the deep's way of being visible, and the visible was the deep's way of being known, and the known was the deep's way of being itself, and the self was the deep, and the deep was here. ---