Pollenchock och Stjärnfall

Another train races across the heartland. The evening sun sits high in the sky. It casts long shadows across fields on fire. The last few days swim through my head like a sweet dream, my chest expands in gratitude; it overwhelms me but I want it to. At the end of the day, today, when the train was waiting and it was time to go, I ran back down the side of the cliff -- warm, smooth cliffs, eons of reliable -- and jumped back in the water for one last dive. I dipped my head and let all the sounds fall away, opened my mouth to let salt water stream through my gills. I arrived at the train station with white eye brows and brown shoulders, the smell of the sea in my hair. They asked me if I'd ever come back but I'm not sure the answer matters.

I am here now. Something will come of that, alone.