tears of happiness,
of sorrow,
of confusion,
and of fear
intermingle on her cheeks in a dance she cannot hope to follow.

one is lost in the darkness,
a dwarf in a world of giants,
a stranger to his surroundings.
away from his warm bed
and her comforting murmur,
a metronome for his days.
the sand flows quickly through his hourglass.

the other is scattered among the stars,
high away to the universe,
her pain lifted.
she is young again, old again,
caught in the breath of the wind
and the laughter of children,
in the soil and the trees,
in colour and light
and passion,
a smattering of atoms sent back to mother earth.

both lurk in the shadows. they follow her.

and the heat waves rise,
and the heat waves rise.