Speed of Sound

air

"if all our life is but a dream / then we should feed our jewelry to the sea / for diamonds do appear to be / just like broken glass to me."

wild wind pushed across her cheeks, blowing long locks of auburn hair into her eyes. the salt water of the ocean stung her skin, lapping against her ankles. she loved standing against the shore, watching birds fly above her heads and minnows wiggle in the waves.

"and then she said she can't believe / genius only comes along / in storms of fabled foreign tongues."

she loved the woods that ran along the sandy shores of the sea. she thrived with the daisies that grew in the moss and the snakes that flicked their tongues at her in curiosity. she wore the flowers in her hair and ran barefooted and wished she could weave her wave into the wild air. she wanted to live there and breathe there until she ceased.

"tripping eyes and flooded lungs / northern downpour sends its love."

and the creatures that dwelled there adored her just as much as she did to them. the sun shone when she arrived and the moon weeped as she departed. she helped the living as much as she could, as her appreciation for them had consumed her heart.

"hey moon, please forget to fall down / hey moon, don't you go down."

and despite the fact that her mother expected her home before midnight, she loved the dusk more than all. she loved watching the birds tuck their beaks under their feathered wings as they got sucked into slumber, and she adored the melody of the cricket's song. she watched for falling stars on the beach, the cold water just barely reaching her toes.

"sugarcane in the easy morning / weather vanes, my one and lonely."

she would creep into her suburban house as the clock ticked twelve, her heart heavy. she crawled under the thin sheet of her bed and dreamt of sand between her toes and racing the rabbits through the grass. even though the humans of the world thought generally negatively of her, calling her insane and inhumane, she knew she wasn't alone. the earth loved her.

"through playful lips made of yarn / that fragile capricorn / unraveled words like moths upon old scarves."

yes, she was sad. everyone was sad. but when she returned from school during the autumn with tears in her eyes and bruises on her arms, the the wild air knew how to cheer her up. she would smile through her teeth and laugh a laugh that made the birds chirp in joy. she need not worry. she knew she was going to be okay.

"i know the world's a broken bone / but melt your headaches / call it home."

she knew she didn't need to grieve over what occurred yesterday or what would happen tomorrow. she only needed to think of the present, of what flowers she could find and what she could make of the clouds. she knew it was good life. there was no time to waste.