"They are so full and potent the sounds of
them the roar and, too, the whisper of the
meaning of all life. People seek them for this
reason like an oracle they offer mysteries
with answers and significance to existence.
We will go, Haggerty and
I, and view the Falls above
the mountain lake whose sky is deep cold cobalt blue
whose winds are cutting and fresh
and slice all hesitation and haze from within
our minds and within our souls and spirits
the lake and its full costume will dance without movement
wend and coil without sound yet
there are always movements and sounds. That
is part, but only part, of the mysteries, the
wonders, of the Falls so great and old.
High falcons dance with
1 another above the silver Falls and their
cries become the longing and the victory of
us all. We will go and
become the Falls. That is what Haggerty says.
Become the Falls. Is she
referring to the leap of faith?" Elaine giddy, "I
don't know, 1 never knows with Haggerty but
that is just 1 jewel of her, 1 jewel within her."
Do
you see it? The wing.
I wished
to call to them sitting there listening rapt,
attentively to Elaine, lost within her happiness. Had
they forgotten? Could they not see? Why couldn't
they feel it?
The
wing grew, beating, grew larger, and began
to whip the trees at the edges of the meadow.
They
ignored it.
They
did not see it.
Elaine
had pirouetted into another sweet blossom and
had taken them with her.
I went,
suffocating, silent.
I went,
desiring.
I could not leave
them. I could not abandon them.