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The wind is soughing and moaning. She is chasing a forest highway; she has to outrun this storm; she knows boughs will be broken.
Moving fast, her body lifts off. She is flying so hard and fast she will go through the edge of the sky. A wall of water dissolves.
She is thrashing about above sea trees. There are dolphins and flying fish cradled in the branches, violently rocking. Someone is crooning “It don’t mean a thing …”
And a shaft of light - some sort of god’s golden finger - is beating time. It is directing a troupe of stiff armed starfish in a dance on the bed of the ocean.
But the tempo is all wrong. They can only very slowly flip and shimmy, imperceptibly swaying to the beat of the tide, on the updraft of this morning.
For it is today. She opens an eye.
In the flat the piano is softly playing a lullaby. She calls out, “Hugh, darling, is that you?”
In the silence there are dry leaves rubbing at her bedroom window.
~ Emma Rich ~
Moving fast, her body lifts off. She is flying so hard and fast she will go through the edge of the sky. A wall of water dissolves.
She is thrashing about above sea trees. There are dolphins and flying fish cradled in the branches, violently rocking. Someone is crooning “It don’t mean a thing …”
And a shaft of light - some sort of god’s golden finger - is beating time. It is directing a troupe of stiff armed starfish in a dance on the bed of the ocean.
But the tempo is all wrong. They can only very slowly flip and shimmy, imperceptibly swaying to the beat of the tide, on the updraft of this morning.
For it is today. She opens an eye.
In the flat the piano is softly playing a lullaby. She calls out, “Hugh, darling, is that you?”
In the silence there are dry leaves rubbing at her bedroom window.
~ Emma Rich ~
Now that's an interesting image, Sophia! At first glance, it looks like a ski jumper flying through an aurora borealis. Whoosh!
ReplyDeleteThen I had to look up the word 'sough' to capture the true meaning, that done, there was a question of pronunciation and apparently there are two ways: 1) 'suff' as in cuff or 2) to rhyme with bough. Interesting!
My favourite part: "She's flying so hard and fast she will go through the edge of the sky."
I hope today will play green and blue music to you!
Thank you, Sandra. The word sough should rhyme with bough. I've heard Americans pronounce it the other way. But I think my way, is the right way. Well I would, wouldn't I? (Such arrogance!!!)
DeleteThe prose poem came first and I wanted to illustrate "Moving fast, her body lifts off." Maybe this isn't the right image, but I like to think it depicts someone hurtling through the sky.