Death Defying

The boy hikes through a shallow gully
and up a rise dotted with sagebrush
He walks to the edge of the arroyo
Listens to the wind rustling in the birches.

He looks out across the plains
Billowing clouds piled high over the Deception Mountains
White as whipped cream on top, but underneath,
Dark as the cancer that clouds the boy’s thoughts.

He thinks he hears the singing then, very faint
He looks down across the arroyo
Seeing deep blue flowers
Meandering through its creases

And again he hears the sweet, melancholy song

A sudden wind creates a dust devil
Momentarily blinded,
He rubs his eyes
When he opens them, she is there.

She reaches out and touches his lips
Lightly with her finger, smiling at him
Her eyes,
The color of sky.

She turns away and walks along the stream
Leans down and lifts water in her cupped hand.
It dribbles through her fingers.
Sparkling like tiny diamonds.

Her straw colored hair swings behind her,
as she turns and beckons the boy.
She shows him a yellow swallowtail
Alight on dark blue cornflowers.

She smiles and laughs
Tosses her hair
and he
He is filled with happiness.

She reaches toward him
A flower petal between her fingers
Mimics for him to open his mouth
She places the petal on his tongue.

A myriad of tastes travel along his tongue
sweet, salty, sour, bitter
He puckers his mouth and makes a face
The girl laughs.

The girl turns to the boy
Places her hand along his cheek
Cool, and soft
He looks into her eyes.

and the sky in her eyes
fills his eyes
and he becomes the sky
and he flies through the stars

and is swept through galaxies
and into black holes
and becomes the dark
and then the light

and he sees and understands.