This is based on an old Anglo-Saxon Riddle:

Strange creature, mounted on the swelling sea,
Came, wondrous, calling out to ship and crew,
With hollow groans and shattering laughter free.
Too slow for battle-rush, yet strong to do
Cruel ravage as it strikes the wooden-wall,
And oars-men underneath the north sea fall.

The cry of wisdom echos in the streets
But who can find her place?
And from the Lord comes knowledge pure and sweet
But who will come and taste?

Some men profess to have her rich, rare jewels
But they are as the blind
Proclaim themselves as wise yet are but fools
And can no gemstone find.

Yet as their master does so posture, they
Call slyly to the young
Who think they see pure pearls on that way
But find they’ve followed dung

Sometimes great fighters in the days of yore
Proved victors far from foe or battle field,
And hidden from men’s eyes made lethal war.

The monk at Worms who stood and would not yield,
In peril of great Rome’s cursed flaming stake,
Was stol’n and in old Wartburg’s keep concealed,

And there with pen and prayer did undertake
To loose the word of God on German lands,
To wake the dead and Satan’s bondage break.

The science-minded men upon the beach
Who number grains of sands, and hope to find
Why sand exists, will find that out of reach.
Between these two domains God drew a line,
As firm as that which still the ocean binds:
Proud waves may come so far and then must stand,
Held back by God’s immutable command.

There’s a little ledge on Lombard street
Just outside our house
And midnight trucks passing over it
Will sometimes a sleeper rouse.
A hollow thud, a lonely sound,
But it comes to me
To herald the existence, through the night,
Of humanity.
And the train-track rumble from the north
With its waning whistle warning,
Tells me that I am not alone
These long dark hours till morning.
And your sweet snoring never could be
Grating or distressing
The breath of one soul dear to me

Fading away and far from view
So many friends and things I knew:
Whom have I on earth or heaven but you?

The word you spoke I now find true,
If they have hated me, they will hate you.
Blind in their rage they know not what they do
Nor hear the voice that calls me to

Come away,
Away up yonder come
Up away,
Away up yonder come --
Jesus calls his beloved to Him
Up away,
Away up yonder home.

I do not see myself in
The Priest
The Levite
The villains, so obviously writ
So uncomfortable, so nonplussed by pain
So distracted, unwilling to be inconvenienced
So afraid to look brokenness in the face

I desire to be seen as
The Samaritan
The marginalized
The unempowered, still so sensitive of heart
So tender, so willing to be taken advantage of
So unbroken by cynicism or contempt
So liberal with grace and gratuitous with mercy

I long to deck you with a diamond cloak
And see your smile shine in a golden ring,
As bright as sunlight when the dawn first woke,
And gleamed on every diamond dew-dropped thing.
I want to crown you with a diadem
Of silver lilies and ruby roses shining;
With lapis hyacinth on emerald stem,
All through your dark brown forest tresses twining.
But now I’m strapped for cash, yet you are fair —
Your clever fingers ringless, and your crown
A single rose set in your chestnut hair,

Chiara debated going back inside. The ballroom was flooded with people and she could easily lose everyone in the crowd. She could just go home and start cleaning so that her mom did not have to. It would be a long walk in high-heeled sandals, however. Jay’s car had made the transportation process much easier. Holly would not be offended that she left.

Unless Holly was in on this plan.

Brody cleared his throat, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I assume Jay told you he would meet you out here, too?”

The Globe Academy took advantage of every opportunity to put on a show of fortune and circumstance. The Christmas Ball was no different. The Pre, Elementary, and Middle school buildings all had their own decorations, artificial snowmen glowing in the dark, reindeer popping from behind trees, familiar Christmas carols drifting with the freezing wind.