On a dingy curb they sat
She in a dress once white
Grubby ruffles sliding down
From scabbed knees
Bare feet in the gutter
A thin arm wrapped around
His shoulders boney under
A faded blue shirt
His grim shorts matched
The grey cement
She called his name as she
Held him
Grabbed his elbows then
Wove her arms into his
The traffic in front of them
Pulsed in fumes and beats
Music poured out from cracked
Windows
Behind them legs took people
Quickly to their next appointment
She called his name
She called his name
I need you, she said
She called his name
I’m sorry, so sorry, so sorry
She called his name
Please survive
I will find you
In this bubble outside of time
Pact struck
Within the swirling city
That never was
Children who never were young
Spit on palms and clasped hands
Making promises
For the future
Writing hope into the lamplight
Singing dirges to the past
Drawing stick figures in grime
A couple kissing
Two in love
Encircled by an asymmetric heart
And when they woke
To another day in hell
Apart and never parted
Hanging on by a thin thread
Woven from a fragment of a
Dream half remembered
Until the day it was needed
“I’m glad you made it,” she said
“I feel selfish for needing you to survive that.”
“I hope you found some joy in the sunlight,
And laughter in the wind,
And peace in the water,
And love growing up from the soil.”
Possibilities swirled around them
Standing there between the light
And the Abyss
A single path began to coalesce
As he slid his hand into hers
“I said I would find you,” he told her
Every star in the sky became a blossom
Every flower in the meadow burst into flames
Birds became dragons
Whales flew through purple skies
Smoke curled up from stone chimney
A cat slept next to a dog in front of the hearth
They curled together under a blanket on the couch
She began to read to him from an unfinished book
When he closed his eyes for a moment
Under the words she spoke, he heard her call his name
And his name meant home to her
And so he stayed
Photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels.com
