Melissa has returned from India.
\nMy child of twenty thousand leagues
\nflying over Mt. Everest.
\nTwenty nine thousand feet.
\nTwenty nine million light years
\nat the top.
\nShe watched it like a star
\ntaken from an oven.
\nA loaf of light
\ncooked in the crucible of Heaven.
\nShe saw the treasure of the Taj Mahal,
\nher heart filling with temples,
\nmosques, pagodas, ancient cities,
\nKathmandu at the paws of the Himalayas,
\nuntil a great slumber of riches
\nweighed on her shoulders,
\nand she retreated to her bed.<\/p>\n
Turned to the lightness of her pillow,
\nand slept,
\nas if a burden of too much beauty,
\ntoo much prayer,
\ntoo much grandeur,
\nwas being lifted,
\nand the clouds returned
\nto their normal height,
\nthe sun no longer blinding her,
\nthe cacophony of the wind
\nbecame a gentle murmur,
\nand she wanted only a seed
\nfrom each hallway, wall, road
\nshe had seen,
\nto plant in the sand
\nof a sleeping shore,
\nerecting castles
\nfor the water to wash away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Melissa has returned from India. My child of twenty thousand leagues flying over Mt. Everest. Twenty nine thousand feet. Twenty nine million light years at…<\/p>\n