"Babe."

"Yes, Bertha."

"I cried earlier at work. I had to be taken off the deli counter."

"Oh, beautiful, what's the matter?"

"Nothing, that's just it, babe. I cried out of happiness. I've had quite a life, with not much luck, and then I met you and discovered what real love was."

"Oh, Bertha.. I feel the same. Hug?"

"Yes, hug."

the light, the faint curtain that draws across day,
far from night's shadows, creature of fire,

revolves, drops white nets into the sea-earth,
where ice and the aching frost cry out

and the soil hardens with its harsh, freezing edge.

we are deaf and blind, numb of limb
like the thin trees and the specter-sky,

blue and forlorn, dreaming our winter dreams...

and through the cold walls i can hardly draw
a smile, sad as a silver leaf the autumn forgot.

it is you who lifts me from the ground, somehow,
like an april shoot seeking the sun, somehow,

my bones as frail as a bird and yet
when the air stirs my blood and i stare into

the amber notes of the wind, the unforgiving land
buckles and breaks and i return to the

kernel of your heart and even the icy
lakes and the weighty forest you loved

under your skin that the light waits to
warm, forget their cold death, breathe

like summer returning to a distant shore.

The young wizard walked on through the sand near the bank of the purple river. Heading easterly toward the great purple waterfall and below to the fork of the green and blue rivers.   His steps were silent in the white and golden sands as the evening slowly bedded the day down.  The young wizard readied his staff for battle. Charged with sunlight from the early day he was ready for another fight.  

As he walked on through the blankets of shadow the night brushed with paint made of darkness, he heard cries and screams for help. He quickly made his way toward the screams and saw the glow of a campfire not too far inward of the forest.  A man and his two children were surrounded by Hunger Ghouls. The man waved about a sword trying to keep the night creatures at bay.  The creatures moaned their dead song with lyrics that only translated into the hunger they had for blood.  

" Stay behind me boys! Get back! Go back to the hell you came from!" The man full of fear and new courage knew he had to protect his boys or die trying.  His heartbeat drummed away while both his hands flooded in sweat. For a moment he thought the sword would slip out. He quickly lifted some dirt so that he could better grip his sword. The hunger ghouls all advanced moaning with open mouths ready to bite down.  

" Ignitis Sol!" Two words came from the shadows of a stranger behind the hunger Ghouls. Two of the hunger ghouls violently burst into a mixture of white and yellow flame burning from the inside out and collapsing into a pile of ash.  " Ignitis Sados!"   Again, two words rang out from the shadows. Only this time a young wizard holding a staff made of sunlight stood his ground. The staff was so bright it nearly created a false day in the night under the forest trees.  The young wizard spun the staff and landed a series of blows upon the hunger ghouls that remained. After the young wizard finished his dance of the sunlit staff, he stood absolute holding the staff in front of him slamming it to the ground releasing a sun flash and destroying the remaining hunger ghouls.  

The man and his two sons were in absolute awe. The light of the staff soon faded away.  The young wizards staff retained its color of oak and deep browns. The only light leftover was the campfire they had created for cooking some broth and chicken.  The man then approached the young wizard with an open hand gesture saying, "Thank you!"  The young wizard then looked toward the children and uttered out with a smile.  " Is that chicken I smell?"

The young wizard found beautiful nourishment in the apple like fruit the withered old tree gave to him.  With both a touching and spoken gesture of "Thank you" from the young wizard the withered old tree responded with a small voice of the wind that blew through the wizards long brown hair.  The young wizard recognized this gesture of nature and the universe as "you're welcomed."

The young wizard lifted his staff toward the direction of the sun and uttered " Soakas Le Solars " Translation " Soak the sun." His staff begin to shine and absorb the light from the sun charging it up with immense power.  After a moment the staff seem to change color from a deep oak brown to an ivory cream like color. It had a soft glow to it and almost seem to vibrate with power.  

He walked on forth through trails made by animals and reached the purple river.  The water was at a slow crawl and looked almost mirror like with no ripples or waves. The young wizard held his staff forward and uttered "Frostias Platformais" Translation "Ice bridge "   The cream like color of the staff shined in a brilliant beautiful azure light and froze the water of the purple river creating an ice bridge across. The young wizard walked across nearly slipping and losing his footing a couple of times, but all together made it without falling.   Once on the other side of the purple river he continued on the banks of the river toward the Fork of the blue and green river.

silence moored like a boat in the harbour,
and you flew against the horizon like a bird  

until my mouth was the night with its hungry stars
and you were the sea wind.

you were the night flowering, a ripple on
the surface of the water, the dreams of the ocean...

your eyes told me that history is made of a
a thousand bleeding wounds, your lips that

kisses are petals falling from a rose
and that we wait like old moons for night

to melt on the shore and set us free, we wait,
unquestionably free, for her gathering of

iris and blue bird, for her beautiful
and melancholy song.

The young wizard set down his staff upon a withered old tree that was somehow still standing. Like the old tree the young wizard endured through the time of one night of terror that seemed an eternity all together.  The dawn was here. The sun sang of song of rest and reassurance that I will be your guardian of light and keep all the dark madness away. The young wizard then sat next to his staff and fell into a much-needed slumber. His staff begin to glow acting also like a guardian of sort alongside the sun in the sky. An old protection spell once cast by the young wizard so that his staff may be a watchful sentinel-like eye to warn him of evils that may be coming for him in his sleep.  The spell sometimes spills over into the nightmares the wizard may have also protecting his sleeping mind as well as his waking body.

The young wizard begins to dream and is among friends and family.  Dreams of eating chicken and potato soup with his brother and sister.  Hearing the fire crackle while his grandmother read to him. The dreams turned like a wheel in his head always in constant change of beautiful memories and scenarios.  The wizard slept on through the morning until one of his dreams was disturbed by a strange growl in the sky.  The young wizard walked a trail of round pebbles through the forest.  The growl became more intense as he walked on through the forest. He came upon a Y shaped tree with no leaves at the center of a glade in the forest.   It reminded him of his slingshot he hunted back at home with.  The young wizard grabbed a pebble from the trail as it transformed into a large boulder to load the tree slingshot with.  The growl was more intense as he slung back the large boulder in the direction of the growl and released it.  As the boulder landed the young wizard awoke to his stomach growling as he had slept through breakfast. The young wizard stood up and stretched his arms and legs. His hands reached into the leaves of the withered tree an felt something round shape among them.  It was a large apple like fruit.  Seemed the old tree still had enough youth in it to bear fruit.   The young wizard smiled and set his hand on the withered bark of the old tree whispering two words.   " Thank you."