It lay there.

Soft, gracious, beating with apprehension.
Raw, vulnerable.
Unguarded.

She dared not pick it up,
Dared not wield the humane of those she saw not but could feel.
Did not want to, did, dare not, turn away.

Yet she had to protect it.
Clasped in a bond the golden chains could not shatter
Despite the intangibility of it all.

It drew her to it, like trains of thought that ran past
Bridges and waterfalls in a dance of death and might
That is oft sought to conquer.
An assured domain of the mind.

She held it, and let go,
As gently as if it had never happened,
Hoping,
Hoping.

Hoping it stayed safe.

Beautiful, yet free.