ˈlɪmɪn(ə)l/
adjective
technical
adjective: liminal
1. relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process.
2. occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold.
I have been thinking about the liminal space recently.
It seems to be the space I occupy at present.
It is not a comfortable place -
but it offers no threat.
It is not a sad place -
but it offers no joy.
It is not a place to be feared -
but it offers no sanctuary.
It does not exist in time or space -
but it is as real as the pause between breaths.
Jane Hirshfield wrote a poem called 'The Door'
which hints at this reality.
THE DOOR
A note waterfalls steadily
through us,
just below hearing.
Or this early light
streaming through dusty glass:
what enters, enters like that,
unstoppable gift.
And yet there is also the other,
the breath-space held between any call
and its answer -
In the querying
first scuff of footstep,
the wood owls' repeating,
the two-counting heart:
A little sabbath,
minnow whose brightness silvers past time.
The rest-note,
unwritten,
hinged between worlds,
that precedes change and allows it.