Metaphor

This morning I awoke at 7 am, I never do that, and I
noticed a robin sitting on a slim branch out the window.
He was dancing.
He hopped and fluttered and half-flapped in a transcendent
flow, and for that moment, there was an understanding between
me and god. And we just sat.

A white and brown calico looked on as well, and as
Robin was finishing the third act, Calico JUMPED FROM A
SIT-STILL, POUNCED ON ROBIN, CUTTING A MILE-WIDE SWATH WITH
HIS CLAWS, TEARING EVERY BRANCH FROM THE TRUNK and leaving
nothing but a reddish feather, and a heart-shaped negative space within
the wooded canopy.

And a pale, silken wind started blowing. And the glass made settling
sounds. And I contemplated the breeze, made movements with its
movements, and caught up to the swaying limbs of trees. And everything
was right between me and god. And we just sat.

It started to rain. At first a patter, then a splatter, then
a downpour. It was all I could do not to move, and within
moments the entiRE ROOF CAME OFF IN A 3,000 MILE-PER-HOUR GUST,
MISSING MY SITTING HEAD BY THATMUCH, FLYING OFF INTO THE
WEST BEYOND KANSAS, and leaving me to soak in the world's
tears.

And a warm rain came to slow the torrent to a sprinkle,
and the breeze came back, this time on my face, and the water
catalyzed the moment, and immediacy I hadn't felt before, but
the picture cleared, the moment lengthened, I was struck by the
motion, careened face first into the motion, and everything was
right between me and god. And we just sat.

The clouds started swirling around me. I thought they were
just a happy part of the proceedings, and indeed they swirled
into a funnel and the funnel got faster, and as it got faster
it got lower, until it struck the ground at such a furious
force that the house immediately lurcHED INTO THE AIR AND WAS
THROWN LIKE A KEWPIE DOLL ACROSS THE COUNTY LINE, WHERE
UPON FINDING GROUND AGAIN, THE HOUSE WAS BLOWN
TO SMITHEREENS! I lay bleeding, unconscious, missing the
feel of the wind on my face.

When I awoke it was dark. I was too
far out of town, or the power went out all over the
state, and the clouds and rain had vanished, replaced by
more stars and more night than you've ever seen. Every time I
focused on one star, three more were behind it, and when
I refocused, twenty more behind the three, and continued until the
starshine looked like clouds in the void. And for the first time
everything was right between me and god. And so I sat up.
And we just sat.

Metaphor by Michael W. Hyde is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.