UNDER A SKY BLUE

 

Under a Sky This Blue

In the shady cool of our TV room,

Where shadows danced on the walls’ soft gloom,

We watched the scary parts through splayed fingers,

Hearts thumping loud as the tension lingered.

It was make-believe, a flickering screen,

Yet it wove the darkest dreams I’d seen.

At eight years old, those fears took flight,

Clinging like ghosts in the dead of night.

I fled outside for a breath of air,

The sun struck bold, its warmth a prayer.  

Nothing bad could ever happen under a sky this blue,

Nothing bad could ever happen under a sky this blue.

The years spun fast to my senior spring,

A restless heart on the edge of wings.

He was my mother’s hope, her offering,

A man to mend what life’s storms might bring.

But his moods were tethered to the sky’s caprice,

Clouds foretold if we’d find peace.

We learned to read the weather’s signs,

To brace for shadows or chase bright lines.

One day I found her on the road alone,

Her hands were shaking, her voice a drone.  

Nothing bad could ever happen under a sky this blue,

Nothing bad could ever happen under a sky this blue.

In a new chapter, I carved my place,

A city pulse, a dreamer’s space.

From my bed, the view was gold and red,

Fall’s fiery blaze where the city bled.

New York’s heart thrummed beyond my pane,

Each leaf a story, each gust a name.

Facing south, I’d watch the heavens shift,

Clouds rolling soft, or torn adrift.

But one day the sky turned thick with dread,

A blackened shroud where the blue had fled.  

Nothing bad could ever happen under a sky this blue,

Nothing bad could ever happen under a sky this blue.

The clouds turned black, the air grew still,

A weight pressed down on the city’s will.

The clock turned back, time seemed to stall,

As if the world held its breath through it all.

I stood at my window, heart in my throat,

The red and gold now a distant note.

What once felt safe, untouchable, true,

Slipped like sand when the darkness grew.

Yet even then, I searched the sky,

For a sliver of blue to calm the why.  

Nothing bad could ever happen under a sky this blue,

Nothing bad could ever happen under a sky this blue.

Now years have passed, and I’ve come to know,

The sky’s bright hue can hide sorrow’s glow.

The blue we trust, so vast, so clear,

Can’t always silence the things we fear.

But still I stand where the sunlight falls,

Where hope persists in the heart’s soft calls.

Through every storm, through every pain,

I seek the blue that returns again.

For though the clouds may veil the light,

The sky will clear in the morning’s sight.  

Nothing bad could ever happen under a sky this blue,