beginning lucia

many years ago, while waiting at a bus stop in the fillmore district of san francisco, i first became aware of an experience i now call lucia. behind the cracked sidewalk, a scrubby vacant lot was bordered by a heavy cyclone fence. on the other side of this fence a leggy, dark green bush struggled to survive in the parched summer ground. i looked more closely and was startled by the unexpected radiance of a single torn leaf. something in my belly turned over, as though a physical vibration from the leaf were sympathetically resonating in my body. although I had no word for the experience, the leaf entered my belly as energy and my mind as an image. the bus came and the leaf was carried away into the city and across time.