Tears Turn to Wings - (To M)
by Benji

We lay in the dust of the land where sadness had set within our hearts.

The heaviness of misery, the darkness of life had pinned our legs and we could not move, we would not move.

I gathered my past into the chamber of my mind and saw that I had conquered this once before. Something within me spoke out urging me to rise above myself and so somehow I stood. You seemed stunned and I watched your face turn, your eyes dart back and forth, your mouth fall open.

I walked; no I stumbled, to the piece of elevated land that lay just a few meters away. There I stood, there I remained.

I took a moment to examine your eyes, the core of your soul. Come what may something within me appeared to radiate hope. Somehow I knew that you understood. I could see the sadness gradually leave your heart through the tears which slowly fell from your worn-out eyes.

You appeared to grow wings for a moment in time. You had seen how far I had come and you could see that I was still standing. But instead of embracing one another, you took to the sky with your newly formed wings. Without intending to, I had somehow set you free. Against dawn’s sky, the fading beat of your wings inscribes the call of freedom. Cupping hands around my straining ears, I listen.

The Flip Side