Visions of Ezekiel

I walk quietly through the graveyard,
letting my gaze roam over the granite stones
worn away by winds and the passing of time.
My mind’s eye blurs and I begin to see a vision:

A valley stretches beyond the horizon – never ending.
The scent of musky soil causes me cringe.
Dry bones lie scattered everywhere, leaving no clear stepping path.
It is just after dusk, and there is an eerie, smothering glow.

All about me, everything is silent.

Knowing my instruction, I speak aloud a prophesy:
“Surely I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live.”
I feel myself shaking and can hear my bones rattling.
I realize that what I am hearing is reality.

The ground appears to vibrate as bones begin to cluster.
I jump back as they begin to snap together with resounding cracks.
Human skeletons appear to be piled on top of one another
as tendons grow out of the chalky ends, linking them into frames.

As though it had once been soaked into the earth,
blood seeps out of the dirt and pools beneath the gathered bones.
White flesh wraps around them as the bodies soak up the gore.
The corpses of men and women lie naked on the bare ground.

Wind begins to gust from everywhere and nowhere.
Limbs tremble and chests rise and fall as stiff lungs expand.
Not sure whether to scream or rejoice, I watch in stillness.
Face pale, jaw loose, eyes wide, I can hardly breathe.

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Inspired by visions of Ezekiel the prophet: Ezekiel 37:1-14