ONCE, THERE WAS A CITY

Grandmother would always start her stories the same way

“Once, there was a city,” she would always say

“Buildings as tall as you'd ever seen.

Lined up in rows like snarling teeth.”

I would sit on the floor in front of her chair

As she ran a gnarled hand through her tuft of white hair

“But this was no normal city, you see

For what it was built upon was quite strange indeed

Not upon stone, nor grass, nor sand

But built upon monsters, by their very own hand.”

Night after night I would dream of this place

Of towers of glass and Grandmother's face

“Can you take me to see?” I'd pout and I'd plea

She'd say, “Not quite yet, when a little older you get.”

So day after day I'd listen to her tales

And when I'd lay my head to sleep my dreams would set sail

To the beasts and the cities, as they were one and the same

And I would hear her voice as she called out my name

But then one morning, her tales went untold

Her chair remained untouched, the day remained cold

Her laughter would no longer dance across the halls

I curled myself up as the tears began to fall

When some time had passed, I couldn't say how much

When the warmth in the air was cold to the touch

In her old room where I found, after hearing an odd sound

A small box that by sight seemed to be full of light

“What could this be?” I wondered aloud

“It's light as a feather and cold as a cloud.

But still this light seems to warm my skin...”

So I opened the latch, and a sudden darkness set in

I tumbled and spun, though oddly I stayed calm

I clung to the little box and I hummed a little song

To where I was falling, I could not say

Then all at once I stopped, and I opened my eyes to the day

My voice caught in my throat, “Is this a dream?”

I was standing on a bridge unlike any I'd ever seen

Made of what looked like glass, bone, and steel

My fingers traced the rail, it felt so very real

“Of course it's real,” said a voice from behind

In the air by my ear, but also in my own mind

I shrieked and I jumped, my heart buh-bumped

As I turned, I quailed; twas a beast from Grandmother's tales

“Do not be afraid,” It said, all teeth and eyes

“I may look scary but you'd be surprised.

I see you carry with you the Light of this world

May I ask what you seek, scared little girl?”

I gasped and I blinked, It was speaking to me

I held close the Box, and the beast seemed to see

I looked down at my hands, the thought came at the sight

This was what he spoke of, this was the Light.

With a sudden courage from I knew not where

I lifted the Light and spoke to the thing in the air

“I've come to see this place from my Grandmother's fables

I would also like to see her again, please... if you are able”

The monster thought on my words with keen interest in it's eye

It swayed to and fro and clicked it's teeth at the sky

“Very well,” It then said, “I shall show you this world

And we who live in it, strange little girl.”

And then up it took me, though I couldn't say how

My toes tapped on sunbeams, my hair fluttered in clouds

As I swung my head around, to my great surprise

A great city on it's back shone before my eyes

“I am this city, as this city is me

Made from my bone, blood, sweat, hair, and teeth

The others who here dwell have cities as well

We protect them as a child from the dangers of the wild.”

As a hummingbird I hovered, and I darted 'round

Past many living cities, to which I thought aloud

“How many could there be? My eyes can see no end!”

“As many as you can think!” Laughed my giant friend

With a whistle and a clatter, we sped through glittering worlds

“Many of my friends shall be yours too, strange little girl!

So come! Follow! Let's dance away this day!

For I feel we are very near the reason that you came.”

Further I flew, through oceans of wind I spun

Dancing on the cold light of the moon and bathing in the sun

With the beast at my side and the Light in my arms

I had no fear, I knew I'd come to no harm.

“A friend of mine you'll see, his city unlike mine

Made from his soul and the shattered glass of time

Maybe he will help in these things that you seek,”

The beast's voice sliced the air each time it would speak

I felt as if time slowed, then raced again just to catch me

I was all at once in the hand of something I could not see

I stood and I frowned, for my helpful guide was gone

I turned on my heels to see what it was I stood upon

Was it stone? Was it sand? I could not rightly tell

Then a shift in the air, and to my knees I fell

Maybe hours, maybe seconds, maybe both of them passed

As time folded on itself as a reflection on glass

“We know you,” said the air and the winds and the sun

“No, we don't know you, why is that you've come?

Wait, we know why you've come, it is to see us all and learn

You seek the truth of this world, with all your heart you yearn.”

The voices danced past my ears and lingered in my mind

They were high and low, deep and soft, sounds of all kinds

As I continued to stare, searching for the voices in thin air

A glimmer caught my eye, an image straight out of time

“Grandmother!” I shouted, trying to run towards her smiling face

But the winds pushed me back and held my in my place

As a tear burned down my cheek and I let out a cry

The image before me changed, and I began to understand why

“Here is your truth, our truth, the truth of this world

All poured into the mind of one strange little girl.”

The voices cascaded like waves on a timeless shore

“This is what we offer you, no less, and no more.”

With my face still wet with tears, but a calm relief in my heart

I slowly lifted up the Box that I carried from the start

“This Light that I have found to you I freely give

All my friends in this world so that you can always live

But permit me to keep just a shred, so I can look upon it and smile

And our worlds will be connected by seconds and not miles.”

My shaking fingers flicked the latch on the lid and held the Box high

And every beast, every voice in every world gave a joyous cry

And then back into darkness, my mind tumbled down

Flashes of thoughts and memories and a cacaphony of sound

I lost myself for a while as the worlds all shimmered past

Until my mind centered on the image I saw in that shattered glass

The one whom I searched for, but then not her at all

The puzzle pieces clicking together as through time I did fall

One final voice from the end, “Do you understand, little friend?”

Yes I did finally see, the image in the glass was me.

I would always start my stories the same way

“Once, there was a city”, I would always say

As I looked at the face of the young one in front of me

Her eyes would shine and her voice would fill with glee

“Oh, were they built by monsters? By there own hands?”

I would laugh and say. “Yes! Not by stone or by sand!”

She would then always laugh and climb up next to me

And snuggle close as I told her all I'd seen

The memories that the shattered glass reflected on itself

About the Box with the Light, tucked away on my shelf