Does it get any better than this?
The grass is warm.
The sun had drawn a veil over her face,
As if to give me privacy, but she peeks through like an inquisitive passerby.
Or more like an old woman sitting on her front porch
Watching children running by,
Since I am far more a passerby than she.
A frog jumps into the pond
Scattering scents of mud and water lilies.
Ripples.
A squirrel runs across the tree branch shading my face
Making light dance on me as I lie in the sun-warmed grass.
Stirring.
I stretch, rolling over to a cooler spot,
Having
All the time
In
The
World.
Does it get any better than this?

The dishes are nearly done.
My mother cooked dinner tonight, and we all sat to eat
Together.
Now I’m cleaning up what’s left.
Contentment filling me satisfyingly.
Much like good food filling a stomach.
A faint knocking is heard as a green plastic cup left on the outside table
Falls over to the ground.
Sounding like a knocking at the door.
I put down the plate I was washing, and go outside to fetch the cup.
I laugh as I step out the door,
Happy that I didn’t miss the evening becoming the night;
The beautiful vibrant colors of the day had been muted for a glorious pastel evening,
Which now fall away from the sultry silky whites and velvet blacks of the night.
I feel slightly out of place with the night in all her splendor,
As I am wearing messy clothes that don’t match, with a stained apron
And my hands are soapy.
I grow still
As the wind grows stronger,
Who blows the clouds out of the sky for the night, for her, letting the moon shine again.
I stand there
Dumbstruck.
Does it get any better than this?

Bare feet splashing in puddles
The bottom of my skirt soaked from
Dragging
On
The ground.
Rainwater drips off my hair
Falling like tears
To
The ground.
My t-shirt
Soaked
Clings to my skin
Moving with me as I breathe
Holding me
I fling my arms out like
Wings
As I run down hills and under trees and past houses
The wind blowing
Onto my skin,
Blowing my flapping clothes so they stick on my skin.
My breath races
Clean air and water spilling into me.
Does it get any better than this?

The wind is throwing a tantrum
Throwing my hair and skirt around
Stealing my breath and running away with it while
I
Laugh like a child and cackle like a witch
At the absurdity
Of it all.
The clouds are racing across the sky
Running as fast as they can to
Get
Away!
The trees hide their heads in fear
Hunching over and staring at their feet as the wind passes by.
I open my arms wide
Open to the world.
Does it get any better than this?

In moonlight and in starlight I sing
Clothing myself in pieces of flowing light and wrapping myself in the silky night.
The cool grass beneath my feet is moist
Growing in hard and unyielding clay that sticks to my feet in a thin layer that won’t wash off.
The gentle breeze twines through my hair like a snake,
Wrapping my hair around its shifting coils
Twisting and winding and messing it up affectionately
Stroking my cheeks and carrying distant scents of
Moonflowers and bonfires and mud and starlight
Inside me as I become the night.
I lean against the rough bark of the old tree
Not quite able to stand at the moment.
The wind whistles around,
And I shiver.
Does it get any better than this?

Wind howling at my window now
Rattling the glass
Little white snowflakes swirl by
Surrounding everything
Obedient to the wind
And
Not
To
Me.
My hair is warm and wet,
Dripping onto a towel
While my skin steams.
I put on warm pajamas straight from the dryer and I settle into their warmth,
Ignoring the desperate cries of the wind outside,
Drinking too much hot chocolate with too many marshmallows
Causing my eyelids to droop
I lie in a quilt that had been hung in front of the fireplace
Breathing deeply as my eyes close and the wind howls around me.
Does it get any better than this?