Muscles still tight
from the deep
instinctive
push back,
inwardly groaning,
like lengths of trees in the sun
as they stretch toward
the meeting place.

The heat will lead you in,
a trickle,
flowing like water,
quivering,
then rushing,
melting into
the vast teeming ocean.

20 miles
condensed into color,
hanging above your head,
not to weigh you down,
but to make you look
higher.
Prayers woven into the
air currents
shimmering,
turning,
brought levity through
the free and pure joy
gifted us by the young,
rippling,
unadulterated,
out to the wider world
where hidden elephants sing
us flying through the air,
Asian grandmother
dancing alongside
as lightly as
a spring blossom
on the wind.