"Isn't it beautiful how the sunset shines on the trees?" she said. "The light is so strong."
His eyes didn't stray from the hill. From the glowing leaves.
She sighed. "It's a shame how quickly it's gone."
The trees behind them cut the light at the ground. The shadow was rising toward the sky.
"I don't like watching," he said.
She leaned in. "Why?"
"Each time you look, more is gone. Until just the very top of the trees are glowing. You really can see the last bit of it drain away."
"It'll be back," she said. "Tomorrow."
"It doesn't feel that way."
"But you know it will."
"Maybe," he said. "Maybe I know it. But it's a different thing to feel it."
Crows flapped across the distant clouds.
"If every time you have something, you're worried about it slipping away, then you've already lost it," she said.
He chuckled and pointed. "See? We missed it."
She didn't turn.
"You're wrong," she said. "I see it just fine."
And sure enough, some of the sky's brightness still reflected in her eyes.
9 comments:
Being alone with a loss makes us lose perspective. Magnifying those distant crows...reinforcing the falling darkness.
He's lucky to have her by his side. To show him that we hold the light within, and between, us.
Beautifully expressed Jason. This one has giving me much to ponder.
www.mypoeticpath.wordpress.com
You have many of my favorite images in here...light, trees, crows, sky, eyes.
This was such a sweet and intimate moment. I love the way the dialogue flows...you are so good at that!
So much of life IS reflected in a loved ones eyes. I am reminded of those lines in a David Gray song...
"your bright eyes are what the time is - Twenty-five past eternity."
Lovely, Jason.
Sarah, the light within, and between us..., yes, that is what is within our power. We can choose loss and pain, but if we do, it is not an outside force that perpetrates it on us. I'm learning that believing it will be is a wonderful antidote to believing that it won't be.
Geraldine, thanks, my friend. :)
Kaye, thank you for the high compliment! And thank you for the lyrics. Eyes are some of the most spectacular things I've ever encountered.
I love the way an image can capture an eternal memory for us. Those are the images/stories that we can also pass down to future generations so that they live on in other's memories.
Very positive.
One line jumped out at me:
"Maybe I know it. But it's a different thing to feel it."
There is so much truth to these words; the difference between knowing something in your head and knowing it in your heart can be the difference between living a happy life, or not. So much riding on so few words!
Aggie, what a great way to describe it! Many of these vignettes have that nature for me. Moments that define lives. Those moments come sporadically, but they affect us deeply.
Terri, you've focused on probably the most important line for me. You're right to feel that tension and those tremendous implications. I think there's power in knowing the mind/heart distinction. With understanding, there's more opportunity to bring the two closer.
This one tugs at me, I really like it. I, like Aggie, felt a positive afterglow.
Autumn is my favorite season, and you captured its essence nicely.
"If every time you have something, you're worried about it slipping away, then you've already lost it," - this is something to always keep in our minds...
Lovely vignette, Jason!
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