The rain fell hard blinding me
as its drops beat on eyes
open and eyelid shut.
I reached up for another grip,
a slippery handhold on slimy cliff
which was my only way out
of the canyon, with rapid rising surge
dragging at my feet, trying to pull me under.
I dared not blink as I tried the hold and lifted
my body up a notch in cranny crag.
I blinked when it held, I sighed for moment.
I blinked again, and again, in relief.
Then, it was time for another try.
Another reach for another sigh,
each moment tethered
to succession of blinks of eye
defining time\'s duration.
Tethered as it is
to moments in
present tense
between blinks
as shutter closures
when we\'re awake.