An Outline of Home (X)

She lay on the deck,

Her arms streched out,

Like the longest branches,

Of an ancient tree.

“Are you sure?”

I asked her.

She nodded,

And her smile,

Was so bright,

It emptied the sky of clouds.

“It will ruin your clothes.”

I told her.

She rose from the newly-painted,

Wood she lay on.

A crude gesture,

And a roll of her eyes,

Before she lay back down.

Blue paint,

The color of her eyes,

Could be seen,

In random places on her clothing,

And on her skin,

Which she had used a canvas.

The wall,

The reason for the paint,

Was largely empty.

I didn’t mind.

She didn’t either.

I took a paintbrush,

Tracing a line around her,

Forever staining the deck,

With her outline.

The line was uneven,

Some spots thinner,

And some thicker,

Like the frayed bracelet,

She kept in a box,

Beside her bed.

The sun inched towards its place of rest,

And I marvelled at the fact,

That the star in front of me,

Shone brighter than the one that fled,

From view.

I saw myself,

In a mirror;

Her eyes.

Watching me,

Watch her.

There was stillness enough,

That it seemed,

A breath was being held.

Silence enough,

That we could have heard,

The pine needles falling,

From the great pine tree,

On the other side of town.

I looked away first,

The outline of her,

Taking over my mind,

As if I were,

Possessed by it.

What would I do,

If I ever lost her?

I think I would find it difficult,

To believe that she had ever,

Truly,

Existed.

She had an ethereal beauty,

A dangerous sort of thing,

That drew you in.

She was a siren,

Of myth,

And I,

The sailor who had heard her song.

″Is there something troubling you?”

She asked me,

Worried at my silence.

Something magical burst out of me,

A strange being trying to escape.

A smile.

“I was simply wondering what I would do,

My love,

If I ever lost you.”

Her paint-speckled hands,

Held my own,

Suddenly,

Comfortingly.

Her arms,

Thin,

But strong,

Pulled me in.

″It is I, that wonders, what I would do,

If I lost you.”

Reassuring me,

That she would never leave me,

Of her own free will.

Her whisper tickled my ear,

Her head turned towards mine,

Her hug strong,

And safe.

A smile filled her eyes,

Her seriousness keeping it,

From her lips.

″I live to see you smile.”

And I was happy with that.

But I still knew,

That if I ever lost her,

I would cherish the outline of her,

On all of my thoughts,

On all of my actions,

On my life.

And on my deck.

It would be the only thing,

To convince me,

She wasn’t a dream.

I pulled her closer,

Settling into the hug,

That seemed a breath of fresh air,

After years spent,

Stuck inside a stuffy building.

It felt like home.