5. INSCRIBED IN THE BODY
a hike in the mountains of Eilat
note: the photographs in this chapter are from a different hike in the Eilat Mountains, several years later
Slowly, I find my way through the gorge, brushing off the sand from the grainy walls with dimpled textures, as if formed by fingers imprinting themselves into soft clay. It is still not quite light, I am barely awake, and I am tunneling through the narrow passage without having to make an effort. My movements are practically dictated by the protrusions and curving spaces and I find myself returning to forgotten modes of locomotion I outgrew long ago – the instinct to crawl, or to slither on my belly, like a snake.
Before long, I am thrust into a dreamlike state, as if hovering underwater, with the warm liquid substance enveloping my skin, buzzing in my ears, cutting me off from the world above. I am cuddling up in the hollows, hugged by the rounded bellies of soft, powdery rock that stir up sensations from a distant past.
