Kites Are Real

..... ......... There he hanged in suspended agony with screams pelting recluse eyes terrified in the glow of afternoon melting… pockmarked face, ears filled with stain, bones clanking. how can i soothe his pain borne from abandonment sighing no name, birth date, parents---thrown in orphanage dying Warm milk with nudging couldn’t slay nightmares moaning games on the porch were not part of his toddler’s beginning yet, tenderness and steeled patience came unknowing kites after kites, my nephews claimed him as brethren belonging slowly… he met my smile with his warm gaze lightly riding Cheeks now more pink than clouds, he painted with hands winging laughter in bubbly froth loosened grip of past remembering how we cupped the moon at night, his ribs swelled with arms widening i entered his healing waters, watched him steadily growing… He was my hero; loving a stranger taught me to be life-giving. -------------------------------------- *To E.J.… one who became my foster child for a year. Janette Fisher's Hero Contest by nette onclaud