The whale and its riders
were dwarfed by the towering castle
as they sailed through the open gate.
Seeing the beauty of the architecture,
Flash forgot how tired he was.
Embedded within the walls,
were intricate mosaics
depicting not only life on Olo,
but images from his own journey too.
The mosaics were not cemented
onto the surface of the walls,
but the crystals that formed the images
were the walls themselves.
Light shown through them like stained glass,
only massive in depth.
the whale.
towering castle.
open gate.
intricate mosaics.
his own journey, too
The air within the castle’s courtyard danced
with projected images that interacted with each other.
Olo’s history was told in holograms
that seemed to come to life as the whale moved.
It went right through a 3-D image of Olo,
and Flash was reminded of the whales he had seen
from the mother ship crashing through Olo’s crust.
Buffy and Skip said, You go rest,
and they slid down the whale’s pectoral flipper to the ground.
They waved as Flash was taken high above
to a tower balcony
which opened onto a suite of rooms.
That flipper became a ramp
and Flash stepped across the dizzying height
to the solid veranda and into the apartment.
dancing images
came to life
King and Queen
tower balcony
dizzying height
He found a room hung in tapestries
that blocked the light,
and it contained a large bed.
On the foot of the bed,
partially covered by a blanket,
lay his friend Lem.
Knowing she was safe,
Flash collapsed into the bedding
and fell into a deep sleep.
when he awoke he watched
the rippling light
that trickled in
around the drapes.
His mind wandered
back to Earth.
He rarely thought of
the planet of his birth.
like a dream.
No sense of loss
of sadness
just the eternal now
no attachment
no fear for the future
no regret for the past
they didn’t exist
the light that lapped
against the walls
held all he needed to know
full of wonder and promise
the whale.
towering castle.
open gate.
intricate mosaics.
his own journey, too
like a dream.
No sense of loss
of sadness
just the eternal now
the light that lapped
held all he needed to know
like a dream.
just the eternal now