Comet

 I stood and watched you. 

An orange ball of fire trailed with flames breaking the horizon.  So high up but I could still feel the heat on my cheeks.  The rumble still reverberating through the ground, up through my feet and into my soul like a direct intended path.  For a moment you were directly over me and a tear from you dropped on my face.  I swore you penetrated my soul, but you didn't stop.  If you were screaming trying to find yourself, no one knows.  If you were in pain, no one knew.  You were on fire, chasing something or something, chasing you. I couldn't tell and you couldn't say.  Nothing looked like you in the sky that day, nothing felt like you, then or after.  

Silence now

All I see now is the tail of flames as you race to the other side and out of view.  The rumbles now a whisper and my chest now hollow...vacant. Your trail disappeared over the other horizon but you left a blaze in me, in my soul, in my mind...marked, forever. I stand in my present, alone, now a ghost as my life moves on, without you.  A coldness only your fire can warm up. Seeking, searching for a scent of your tinder.  My feet, imprisoned in a slow search to find what left me that day in someone else, since I couldn't fly to chase you. Could something so powerful be repeated?  So I went on a search.  A fool's errand.

Years pass.

A familiar rumble in the distance catches my ear.  I turn back to the horizon you first entered.  I see you. I see you lower, lower in the sky.  So low I don't have to raise my head.  Your blazing right towards me...at eye level.  My breathing speeds up, your orange ball of fire I could fit in between my fingers in the sky years ago is now a huge white circle twice my height.  Your not slowing down, you're coming right at me.  My chest recognizes your heat and immediately heats up to match yours.  I clench my fists and brace myself for impact.  Why don't I move out the way or run? Am I afraid or relieved, I cant tell.  Louder, closer, faster, the ground below my feet starts to break apart.  I close my eyes as my skin starts to burn.  Behind my clenched eyes, your light is so bright I still start to see white as you get closer.  I don't know when you hit me, I didn't feel it, as if it wasn't an external event.  I know my feet are no longer on the ground. Silence now.  I'm floating, everything white, everything, slow.  My eyes still closed but my hands are no longer in a fist.  I don't know what's happening but I'm not scared.  The heat that started to burn my skin is now just a warmth cloaking me.  If I open my eyes will I see your face in front of mine?  Will I see it's your arms carrying me and your chest against mine, warming me up?  My shell has been so empty without you. Is this you coming back to stay, with me, for good? Is this a dream? I keep my eyes closed...for now.