Hear the Crystal Blue

Hear the Crystal Blue

(“Lord, I cry out to you. I say, ‘You are my place of safety. You are everything I need in this life.’” Psalm 142:5)

Did you hear the crystal blue speak to you,
did you see the children smile? Did you
remember you were made
the same as the tiny feet that
run in the late day grass with footballs
as big as their heads?
Did you remember tripping in the
dew-soaked grass
wearing winter boots
and running to your dad like no one saw?
Do you catch your breath once the winter ices the air,
do you shiver when there is no winter at all?

I’ve been like a jumbo jet that lost
an engine and a wing
and discovered my trajectory has been seen
by far too many on the ground. Why did I spiral,
why the fire,
why didn’t the air support my desire to climb?
They close their eyes at the near collision of
the earth and my fuselage. I accuse myself of
crashing far before their barnstormed videos.

What they do not know is that the ocean welcomes us,
the waves wash over us,
the sea soaks us warm.
What they cannot hear are the lyrics to songs only
the dolphins have taught us.

Shall we trust each other when we have not trusted ourselves?
Let us fall, or swim, or sing, or slide down the face
of the next mountain we ascend. Let us send each other
songs
and repeat them, beginning to end until they bring
the same tears
or smiles
they brought the first time we ever
heard them.