The next morning was spent attending services at the gorgeous Havenwing cathedral, after which we returned home and were joined for lunch by a few of Uncle Oruc and Aunt Monria's friends.

Even that 'casual' gathering made me nervous with its pomp and opulence, but I hoped it might prepare me for my first Havenwing ball, which Aunt Monria had informed me the day before, was taking place in three weeks' time.

They call it 'otherworldly'--

the nectar-colored sky

behind the blackened front

of the approaching summer storm...

the sunlight and the rain that come at once,

dripping gold...

the sighing of the wind among

the youngest of the trees...

the stirring of the lake

beneath the water lilies...

'Otherworldly'.

I laugh at them--

at the narrow minds

that speak of other worlds but cannot grasp

the wonders of their own,

who cannot fathom sun and rain at once...

or a nectar-colored sky.

Snow, snow,
from the gray, gray
sky
white and glistening
where rooftops blend
into smooth gray sky
and blackbirds sit
on the wires overhead
crisscross stark
against gray, gray
like bark on the maple
out behind the fence
reaching up, up, up,
like reaching hands
stretching fingers
tring to catch the big, thick flakes
as they fall, fall
and there's so much world here
my boots crashing through
silent steps
cries of delight
ringing through gray, gray
sky

The world is so cold,
so empty, so bare,
so bitter and gray
without sunny skies fair

But those skies have long gone,
they left along with you,
all the joy you brought to me
has now vanished too

The world is so cold,
like a stone, gone all numb
too dark to see where I'm going
or where I've come from

Where is my sunshine,
where is my light?
where is my heart?
when will my world be right?