The city is quiet.
the rumbling is deeper than he'd expected, more powerful than he has any right to comprehend.
Fourteen years he's been breathing the air.
the audacity...
To think he can stand here on the rim of the grandest city in the world...
perhaps the universe
...and dare to understand the nature of temerity.
determination
Write me a paper, his teacher had said.
the gravelly voice is only wrapping paper on a package of kindness
Tell me why you want to live.
life, living, breathing... more to it than that, surely?
Tell me what makes your heart push against your chest.
sheer emotion
He desperately wants to write the paper.
his teacher's eyes will be full of sadness, not understanding
He grabs the edge of the railing and pushes back, pulls forward.
out there is the water and the mist and the light of the moon on the spray
Feeling the muscles in his arms.
rage
The wind picks up, ruffles through his shaggy hair and tugs at his loose sleeves.
dust in the wind will fly forever
He wants to write about how it feels to be helpless.
he understands it is his body that needs to breathe
How it feels to be alone.
he doesn't know what part of him needs this
He wants to tell the world that he's not fourteen years old.
go to your room, young man
For there, on the heights, he stands between the sabertooths.
how old are they, mom?
Somehow he knows he has no right to be like this.
a thousand years old, boy
He cannot accept that he has lived fourteen years.
skinned knees, birthday parties, dreidel games by the fountain
When these statues have lived a thousand, above the pounding mist.
how dare you embrace brilliance
He can hear the water pounding and he understands what others cannot.
all alone in the dark with none but the world for company
Above him the stars stretch forever, a billion suns above a city lit by candles.
he can manipulate words, understand people
He looks down at his feet and his oversized hands and the skin into which he has yet to grow.
loneliness
He wants to tell his teacher that he can reach out and touch the secrets of the universe.
why haven't you done your essay, young man?
But he will never find the words.