Cage is a good song...

************

Smoke

A single cigarette dangles in between her lips

We sigh

"They don't seem to know how much of a gift they've given you..."

I nod

My head's in her lap

Fingers tangle themselves in my hair

"The gift...it's so...fragile. I don't want it broken."

She massages my scalp

Her head's tipped back

Smoke passes through her nose

She looks like a dragon

"I know...you're waiting for it..."

I nod and stare up at her

"I felt it...but it's so far away"

"Out of reach?"

She tips her head down to stare back

I nod

"She is..."

"What about..."

"No..."

I state so simply

Pushing the gift they've given me

It would break

Like my mask

That I had to repair

Again

They are the most precious things to me

What they've done for me

Hasn't been done before

They just thought of me.

And just being there

Is all I need from them

She strokes my head again

Touch, trust, happiness

Remembrance

That all I want from them

I've been denied that for too long.

Our chests heave and I close my eyes

I have yet to have that 'feeling'

Close to me

But that tremor I felt so far away

The broken woman I put together

In that dream

I know she's out there

I can feel her

"..be patient..." Zara murmured

I will

I will

I'll wait for the bamboo forest*

******

*Don't ask...