She Laughed Like the Leaves

"Let's live, just for today."

That day, I learned leaves could laugh.

Maybe it was fate, a twisted joke for the Weavers. But I don't believe in fate, not any more.

It was serendipity. A blowing of winds.

Truly, a blowing of winds.

Dante's Inferno never felt so real. His artistic craft, flowing lines, revolting imagery … no it was the heat.

A heat that seeps through your nose and chokes the life from your throat. A heat that claws at your skin, sticky hands from the crevices of hell.

Before slipping into its grasp, a ruffling of hair, lifting of garments.

Murmuring a thanks, I lifted my gaze. But meeting mine, was Hers.

I said I didn't believe in fate. But that moment, no other word could describe.

Ephemeral.

Unrestrained smile, free from the ashes of man.

Dewy eyes, glistening drops of light.

Perky ears, inviting the weary at heart.

That was me, weary at heart.

Though, not just at heart, apparently.

"Did you know, when you stop speaking, the world starts whispering."

Before I could stutter a response, She grasped my hands and laid my lids.

"Shhh."

"Just listen."

Carried by Her melody, I drifted into a world unseen.

Soaring blues were birds, Choreographing their dance before parting 'til chance.

Storming plants were ants, Each to their due, united accrue.

Breathing life were trees, A constant flow: noticed by none, needed by all.

Simplest of life, clothed by Creation.

Leaves, reaching for Her touch.

Birds, calling for Her love.

Wind, dancing for Her silk.

Sun, yearning for Her glow.

Greeting me was Her visage.

Immortal.

"No one rebukes the birds for roaming the skies. Nor the ants for working their mounds. Who could breathe, if not for the silent trees."

"So why try to be, something you're not?"

With a grin, She turned Her back.

But not before adding, "Your face said it all."

As Her steps grew smaller, I chased with conviction.

I was a Yo-Yo, She was the hand.

She beckoned me forth, I yielded my path.

Their Strings worked, in mysterious ways.

"You know, I've always wanted to ride a bike."

With a childish squeal, She leaned back. Ebony silk brushed strokes in the sky.

Under such a sky, I hunched forward. Precision with every step, I cycled.

"One, two, three. One, two, three."

Breaking my cadence, She leaned forward and whispered, "Isn't the river beautiful?"

River? What river? Were we biking by a river?

Unconvinced by my hesitant, "Yeah …", She sighed.

"What's the point of biking if you're not going to enjoy it?"

"While you're hunched forward, squinting your eyes, life is moving by."

One, two. One …

Gears grinding to a halt, I looked back.

Not at how far I've come, but how much I've missed. Lilacs coloring the green, salmon jumping the bank, children picnicking by the shade.

Since when did biking become so technical? Where did the love, my childish love, go?

Rushing down the neighborhood hill, running from homework, ripping through the trails.

"Let yourself go. By the time you're at the finish line, it'll be too late."

Seeing Her so serious, I couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you."

Replacing my cadence was our laughter. Rather than my pedaling, the wind carried us further.

I wasn't cycling, we were flying.

When was the last time I laughed so freely?

Back at our Eden, we watched an orange glow crown the dusk aglow.

Yet, She shone the night.

Cast with a golden shade, Strands of ink caressing Her jade

Snowy hands, etched from marble Enchanting eyes, tears from a goddess

Her lips parted, giving way to light Her lines danced, granting me sight

Skies spewed sparks as She graced the clouds, Winds sang symphony as She leaped the ashes

Heaven's jealousy.

woe is he he who sees he who yearns for what he cannot

though artists stroke bards enchant poets lavish all in vain

Pygmalion

Turn.

Eyes.

Smile.

Though a picture worth thousand words, words unsaid carry a life.

‘I did not die, and yet I lost life’s breath.’

In Her dewy eyes, was a fog.

In Her unrestrained smile, was a pause.

In Her perky ears, was a droop.

Grabbing a leaf She said, "We're like leaves. Falling the moment we're born, destined to lay the ground. But amidst this fall, the wind blows us to places unforeseen."

Shedding Her laughter was a glimpse. A glimpse of stories untold, breaths forsaken, prayers hollowed.

"I'm glad the wind blew me to you."

Fiddling with Her leaf, I lay in bed. The day passed was a dream for the years.

Would She be there again?

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Whir. Whir. Whir.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Cacophony of life, or lack thereof, filled the circle.

Nine doctors circled an angel.

An angel slipped through their crevice.

Beeeep.

snip

Roll.

A yo-yo cut from its string rolls.

Rolls where the wind blows.

Huff. Huff. Huff.

A leaf never seemed so fragile. Her rosy red lips, now a bloodless gray. Her vibrant frame, now a stringless marionette.

Haaa.

I could only let out a dry laugh.

Even as She lay cold, devoid of life, Her spirit couldn't be killed.

Smile

She slept with a smile.

Laying beside Her was a letter.

If you're reading this, it means I'm laying beneath the tree, alongside the other leaves.

Sometimes I ask my nurse, "What does the sun, the air, the grass feel like?"

But you see that tree outside? When the wind blows, some of the leaves fly away. Far from this sterile place.

Maybe one day, the wind will take me away. Dancing in the breeze like the leaves.

There's not much to do here, so I listen. Listen to the wind, the trees, the leaves. Because when you stop talking, the world starts whispering.

If you listen closely, the leaves laugh as they fall. They laugh for freedom. They laugh for flying. They laugh for being.

The leaves don't cry, curse their fate to face the earth. They laugh. And so will I.

Some leaves float, While others drop.

Some turn gold, While others go cold.

I can't say I had the longest flight, But I have seen the light.

We've flown past herds like the birds, Worked those slants like the ants, Sang our breeze like the trees.

When the wind blows, Your sorrow goes.

Please, let it go.

Close your eyes, Hear their whisper.

When the leaves fall, Laugh on my behalf.

Because I flew, laughing.

The heavens were jealous. Jealous of Her unmarred spirit, jealous of Her carefree laugh, jealous of Her unwavering strength.

Jealous She defied fate.

Yesterday, I learned to live.

Yesterday, I learned leaves laugh while falling.