My Soul

is the sorcerous hand

that stirs that blood sea

and fills that dark galleon's

sails with its malevolent wind...

My Body

is the world that

grinds under these

torturous conditions,

always moving forward,

restless and weary...

My Fate

is the fuel that burns

and thunders on the ocean;

it is the doom-filled

and mocking whispers on the wind

that forces the cutter on;

it is the arm and body that

guides the hand;

it is the weight that

crushes the bones and

drives the body to

play its part...

My Life is an endless sea...

SUNRISE REVOLUTION...

The sun was rising, a wind carried the fallen snow within it like a creeping fog. The night had been a cold and miserable one, which I had spent most of in the confines of a tiny metal booth. Customers and lost travelers were few on this night, giving me ample time alone...

Waiting...

...Thinking...

...Regretting.

As my shift drew to a close, I bided my time (and diverted my mind) with a book. I reached behind me to switch off the overzealous heater when I felt something there, something alien...

(A hand?!)

My attention ripped from "Unknown Kadath" , I turned, and suddenly I was nine years old again! Standing before me was the woman that brought me truth (the one person I'd ever known to speak to me with no ulterior motives).

Nothing had changed in ten years, the same black hair that caressed her as she smiled timidly, the same tight, black jeans, the same loose t-shirt, and the same eyes...

(Oh, those eyes...)

Deep blue pools of thought and emotion and memory...

(What is she thinking?)

My God... I whispered as I stood there, stunned. She smiled openly, and somewhere, deep in my soul -long forgotten-

the love that had carried me through years of pain and loss burst to the surface.

A tear rolled from my paralyzed eyes, down to my cheek, cold as the wind outside. She reached out a pale hand and caught that tear at my cheek, and wiped away its trail with her thumb,

(So soft...)

Lingering for a moment,as if she was etching my skin into her memory.

As she held there, I drew a calming breath and caught a whiff

of...

(Memories?)

She pulled her arm back as I composed myself.

We talked for a while about the past, and the present, though actually, she would ask me questions and then just listen, intent on catching every word.

By now, the sun was over the horizon, offering the comfort of a new day.

(Redemption?)

I switched off the light and sighed as she spoke in tones that finally made me believe.

(In me? In her?)

I listened as intently as she had, but my mind was working furiously to place that fragrance.

(Hope?)

She glanced down at the newspaper, a front page full of suffering and despair and she frowned and sighed a heavy sigh.

(What? Love?)

Suddenly, she threw aside the paper and looked at me with an ancient longing tinged with fright.

They'll be coming soon... she whispered.

I knew she had to leave me again, and I drew her close, into my arms. I held her there for what seemed like an eternity, listening to her sniffling. Then, at that moment, I felt every emotion I'd had in the last decade, and I felt something happen...

For that moment that she was in my arms, she grew warm, and I thought that I felt a faint heartbeat. That pulse... That moment... That was when it all came together. All of my thoughts had been right all along... That fragrance was everything... It was Life!

That was when the cars began to pull in. I kissed her on the forehead lightly and stepped out of the booth. I turned my head back and grinned. She waved and smiled as though she had never learned how. As I returned to my duties again, out of the corner of my eye I saw her bow her head and break into tears. The next instant, I lost her in the shadows of the booth.

But after all is said and done, and though I don't remember much of the conversation we had, I know...

And I'll never forget the life that I gave Death that morning...