One step ahead, one behind lay the dead in the past, the future, a book already read, tightrope walking with a life as a line, the line a rope and the rope a vine, a vine with leaves that intertwine; other walkers walk, some hobble and some sprint, some leave footsteps, others leave footprints, they keep their heads down and bowed and are bound by the frozen fear of looking so far down...
The drop, a thud that makes no sound, echoes around the web of hearts gathered around the mound, one step, two step, three step, four, a journey or a pilgrimage maybe less maybe more...
A child sheds a tear and a bear licks it's wounds, the man holds back his pain from the hurtful bad news, the walkers look up as the straight paths bend as the broken are fixed and the shattered begin to mend, the blind teach how to see while and mute teach how to speak and the numb teach how to feel and the hidden risk a peek, the dark brighten days and the strong help the weak and the walkers that move to push forward teach standing up to the meek, then the lines begin to thin, and pulse, and swim and the walkers stop walking as the true journey begins...
The child, forced to grow, has remained sweet in the bitter cold and in the dead of the night where she feels most alive, she exhales and jumps, her eyes open wide, absorbing the sky and the monsters it hides, she spreads her wings and if the heart does not lie, the brain tells of truths as he looks into her eyes, if he is the sky then she, the sea, is the land and they struggle to smile as he holds her limp hand but she finds the strength to help him understand that next time the sea sleeps she won't wake up on the sand and as he takes his hand to tuck away a stray strand of her hair she whispers goodbye to the child she left there, sitting in the sand, the memory pulls at her like an old rubber band, and she speaks to him words of love and care as she cries a tear for the man who was the bear...
A year later in the book already the read as two steps in the past and future lie the dead, the child walks while the father holds his head, to see his little angel take one step ahead...
