Melody in my Heart
© 2013 by dqmwartist
Sully dismounted from his horse and moved towards Michaela, "This poem is sayin' what I feel in my Heart"; he whispered into the air, mere inches from her lips.
"Now I see the secret of the making of the best person; - It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth."
"Be not discouraged, keep on, there are divine things well envelop'd, I swear to you there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell."
Michaela turned her head for a moment, listening to the words spoken freely and without restraint. Brian was an eloquent reader. She could also understand why Sully felt the words deep in his heart having lived with the Cheyenne for many years. Everything they took from the earth they used without wasting anything.
She'd also been shown beautiful places that words could never fully describe. A place where the sun met the earth as it set, falls where they could be loved without being seen, even caves where honey and berries were shared.
Sully lifted his hand gently running his fingers along her cheek; causing her to break her thoughts and turn back towards him. Her eyes sparkling in the sun and her lips beckoning for the kiss he longed to give. As their lips met in passion, Walt's words echoed through the air clearly spoken.
"Camerado, I give you my hand! I give you myself more precious than money, I give you myself before preaching and law.
"Will you give me yourself? Will you come travel with me? Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?" (Song of the Open Road)
Michaela looked deeply into the blue depths of Sully's eyes as she let the words flow through her veins, "If only people could see, it's nothing to be afraid of." She was touched by the words and felt the last line clear and true. No matter where life took them, she wanted Sully by her side. "You've always been there for me and those words hold so much meaning."
"They do and there is no one I would rather be with the rest of my days than ya." Sully smiled at her again, with love dancing in his eyes making her want to get lost in them right then and there. That is until he broke the spell.
"Come sit," Sully motioned towards a nearby rock where they could listen without being seen. Michaela followed, seating herself next to Sully and laying her head on his shoulder. "It's beautiful, Sully," she murmured into the gentle breeze.
A moment later Brian was being praised by Walt for his reading, and soon enough a new poem was handed his way. "Excellent reading my friend, you do very well with speaking poetic words."
"Thanks, Walt," Brian replied before reading the next poem that was placed in his hands…
"I sing the Body electric; The armies of those I love engirth me, and I engirth them; They will not let me off till I go with them, respond to them, And discorrupt them, and charge them full with the charge of the Soul." (Body Electric)
Michaela remembered Sully trying to read this very poem to her and how she baulked at the reading. She found herself blushing now at the words and worried as a mother that Brian was reading such things aloud. Did he not know the meaning of what he was saying?
Sully sensed the tension in Michaela, knowing how she felt about such things. He also didn't want her to worry either. Brian was in good hands and he was doing an excellent job. "There's nothin' ta be afraid of, like ya said," Sully whispered in her ear so as not to drown out Brian.
"He's so descriptive with such intimate words," Michaela replied as her face started to turn a bright shade of pink again. "That's the beauty of poetry," Sully answered as he put his arm around Michaela, "Lettin' your heart speak in a way that touches folks' souls."
Michaela smiled and let her mind drift off for a moment, before they were married and Sam Lindsay had walked into her life. She was like no woman Michaela had ever met. Sam broke all the rules and lived life to its fullest all at the same time. Wearing pants was scandalous, but Sam did it with a smile and when an opportunity knocked she answered without hesitation.
Michaela remembered their spontaneous fishing trip late at night. Something she would never have done, without such a kindred spirit around in Sam. She remembered telling Sully how Sam saw them:
Mike: "You know what Sam said? She said that seeing us together is like watching a fire burn."
Sully: "Is that good?"
Mike: "Well, ignore a fire and it burns out. But if you tend to it, take care of it, feed it...it keeps growing bigger, burns brighter."
Ever since she met Sully the fire in her never stopped growing for him. Through the thick and thin he had been right there with her. Michaela would never forget Sam and all that she had learned from her friend in the short time they knew each other.
Sully noticed the faraway look in Michaela's eyes, "Thinkin'about somethin'?" Michaela turned towards him, "Yes, Sam. She loved poetry, and gave me the book to read on my trip to climb Pikes Peak. Each time I hear words from Emerson or Whitman, I think of Sam."
"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Ralph Waldo Emerson's words echoed through Michaela's head at the memory.
"Sam was a wise lady and I know ya miss her." Michaela nodded her acknowledgement of the truth in Sully's words. She did miss Sam, and each time she opened the book she was given, it was as if Sam was right there reading it with her and finishing the verses.
Michaela also remembered going back to climb the peak again with friends, only to end up injured and left behind. On her birthday she read Emerson aloud until her stomach grumbled and instead of reaching for food she'd found Brian's beautiful words:
"Love is like a flower, blooming in the spring,
Love is like a power, telling you to sing.
Love means happiness, it also means mother,
So I hope this birthday is better than any other.
I love you, Brian."
Michaela turned to Sully with a loving smile radiating from her body as she whispered, "I love you," ending with a gentle kiss upon the lips she couldn't help but kiss. "I love you too," Sully answered with a gentle kiss as he led Michaela towards where the horses grazed happily in the sunshine.
