They came as nomads,

and they left in swimming pools,

left in coffins,

            standing on the roof of their cars,

                             standing on mountaintops,

                                                           Only hours earlier they were

                                                      staring up at  the trees,

                                                              taller then ever now.

staring up at the trees,

getting lost between the branches.

They stared up at the slopes, covered in snow,

      mouths wide open,

                                                            expelling hot air and a gentle hum,

And they wondered where their snowshoes were?

and they wondered,

                          Where did the bobsleds go?

These slopes were white with snow,

and the rabbits and the foxes were white, too.

and the ash from the volcano was white, too.

and I can still hear that hum,

and feel that collective breath.

I know where the snowshoes are.

I know where the bobsleds are.

I know where the bodies are buried.

     There was no getaway driver,

but there was a car chase,

              &

the vault was empty now.

there were tire tracks now.

I do not know what they were chasing though.

I do not know what they were looking for…

I stared up at those same trees, and tried to make the most  of it,

but the trees became boring,

(the mountains told me that)

and they would continue to grow even if I wasn’t staring at them,

(the mountains told me that)

                     up and through me and the nomads,

until we were all hanging upside down,

like sleeping bats,

                                                  or like sweet fruit, ready to fall.

and we were up there together,

above the attic

and the baseball fields

and the  spinning windmills,

and above the fireworks.

And we were up there, crying together,

Myself  and the nomads,

staring at the constellations,

                                                                                and the fireworks below us,

we stared  into mirrors, and we believed together.

we turned gold, together.