Day 248: Void

Void
by
Matt Zurbo

 

Silvia, one night, reached into the dark,
alone, unloved, afraid,
for no real good reason,
other than to see what the dark made.

Needing something new, or even strange,
she gave her fingers all of her heart,
then pulled from the void a carousal,
which gave that heart a start!

The carousal was round and smooth,
full of a thousand spinning parts,
all shiny, patterned, full of colours,
shaped like ponies, disks, apple carts.

Around and around Silvia span,
a carnival all her own,
with no intention of stopping,
or returning to boring, safe home.

Lap after lap, of the edge of the void,
not knowing whether to shudder or cheer,
Silvia stared into its vastness,
slowly beginning to fear.

Then Silvia saw a small boy,
young, brave, wearing a fox mask.
“I just want to be left alone,” he moaned.
“Is that such a horrible task?”

Together they span, with nothing to say,
awkward, at the very least.
But, somehow, in such sticky silence,
sharing some kind of peace.

“I’ve got it!” Silvia finally cheered.
“Let’s turn this carousel into an ark!
Sail, spinning, to the void’s other side,
taking on mighty tasks!”

“Like what?” the boy asked,
as monkeys brought them their wood.
Beautiful planks from men in high ranks,
who hadn’t used them like they should.

“First we’ll tackle a storm,
then ride with a pod of killer whales,”
Silvia romanticised,
as she did every time, without fail.

“Maybe we’ll teach mermaids,
to sing new, strange, beautiful tunes.”
“Maybe they’ll teach the two of us,
how to woo and drown and croon.”

“We’ll chat with mighty squids,
or could just stare down the moon,
or let it stare down on us,
as if it will be visiting soon!”    

“How do you know these things,
like that there’s an ocean out there?”
the boy asked the simple question,
left hanging in the air.

“All voids have oceans beneath them.”
Silvia insisted; “Everybody knows that.”
“You can sail them in boats, bathtubs,
even woks or silly top hats.”

“A carousel ride into nothing,” the boy thought.
“That does sound sort of cool.”
“Something to be taken on,
by only the most romantic of fools.”

“What if we find an island,”
Silvia pondered for all to hear,
“where aliens and weird creatures,
come from far and near?”

“Everyone or thing that’s ever fallen,
then simply forgotten to stop?
Those who went searching,
but for what, they somehow forgot?”

“I think we’ll find our fears,” the boy said.
“As well as our doubts and joys.
Anything that makes us feel.
I’m in it, I say, oh boy!”

So, monsters and whirlpools on their mind,
shoulders braced, excitement deployed,
with thoughts of deep ocean waterfalls,
they pushed off into the void.

“This is exciting!” the boy chattered,
as they, indeed, approached a dark and terrible storm,
while the lightening from its core,
somehow kept them safe and warm.

“Very much so,” Silvia agreed,
as the first great waves beneath them formed.
And the void, it swallowed them both,
lonely Silvia and curious boy.

Each one of them spinning, laughing,
wide-eyed on a carousel,
venturing into the unknown,
as least for a little spell.  

The End