by Krysalyn Satriya
Art by Caroline Wang
Issue: Nostos (Winter 2019)
he was a shaking, trembling little leaf.
why had she left him?
where had she gone?
on and on and on he ran…
a ringing cry echoed across the ones he’d lost
as he shuffled on through blanched darkness
his mind screamed:
what would <be>[come] of h[im] when all <hopeful>ness was [lost!]?
his feet caught in a mire
and its sputtering jaws clamped upon him
he could not wrench himself free from its greedy grip
the water’s tongue licked shadows in the deep
his ears nose eyes head
water feasted upon them all,
welling up inside him
until they existed as only one
and then the smoky mist exhaled into the sky.
but
the vapor, lighter and higher, continues past the world
color blooms with the scent of lavender
on the tip of a tongue.
a flutter of silky sheer wings whisk away fears
and tears
glittering cotton clouds dance with unknown fervor.
a song of a thousand stories
and a rhythm of a million spirits
declare a warm choir of reverberating voices.
and then—
he sees her
roses and rosebuds upon her figure
radiating a rapture of light
he runs to her,
her arms outstretched,
breathing in the familiar fragrance of her essence
hope came in the form of a brilliant star, the sun
and the lost little boy, the trembling leaf,
arms chipped and worn,
is painted shiny and clean
found and founded anew;
because finally, finally, he is
home
