Tomorrow's Promise

Tomorrow's Promise

4-26-08

I fell asleep in a war zone

to the endless cracks and crashes of a thousand angry men.

There I curled in my scared kitten ball

too afraid to lift my head

or open my eyes

or get out of the line of fire.

They came one over another

like a mob of citizens fleeing from the soldiers

their screams and cries of pain melting

into a cacophony of gray hell.

And my ears rang with the horror of it.

Dull roars

muted growls of a sleeping lion.

Then a sharp snap rent the air

like the thoughtless slap of a careless hand

so close I felt it graze my bare back

as if I'd just escaped death by some improbable chance.

Cold chills ran over my skin

like tiny electric fingers feeling for broken bones.

I shivered there

and let out a weak cry of surprise

or maybe it was a pitiful whimper of fear.

Then they all came

in a volley of God's wrath

each more furious and harsh

than the last awful explosion.

And I thought in circles

my mind rushing and lashing back at itself

as the air around me sizzled and popped

sparked and flamed and flashed,

as the cold washed over me in grim certainty.

I'd die here

alone and curled like a beaten child

hiding behind a main of dark snarled tangles

cowering and praying for death to spare me.

Please God, spare me!

I opened my eyes and saw clear daylight.

I lifted my head to hear cheerful birdsong.

Raindrops whispered to one another outside my open window

like two lovers meeting in secret.

I stood and breathed of the calm

of the mysterious air caressing my face

and I heard my silver chimes sing in that serenity.

I awoke, to peace.