Virginia Woolf Stones

my dreams were high in the sky, fingertips brushing the tails of

the shooting stars they tried to catch before you kept filling their

pockets with Virginia Woolf stones and that's when they sank down

⠀⠀

down

⠀

past cloud nine candy floss they once ate happily while laughing

with their friends, carnival lights prism reflecting off their smile

⠀

past gentle rain that bathed their skin with soft, wet baptism, piano

melody played delicately on them by freshwater pianist fingers

⠀

down

⠀

past the red balloon they comforted that a little girl had let go of in

the grocery store parking lot after her mom warned her to hold tight

⠀

down

⠀

past figure eights they used to loop around tall skyscrapers, happy

that they were finally rising, rising, rising, breathless as with life

⠀⠀

down

⠀

past treetops where they lost some of them along the way because like

boosters on a rocket they couldn't take all of them when they first rose

⠀

down

⠀

past the tide that rocked them to and fro, shooshing them as if they

were a babe again as they said goodbye to sky, returning to the womb

⠀⠀

down

⠀

past the magnets that they used to stick on Davy Jones' locker when

they were just a young girl still figuring themselves out, clueless

⠀

down

⠀

my dreams

⠀

down

⠀

sank far

⠀

down

⠀

into Mariana Trench

⠀

down

⠀

where creatures never discovered wondered past them in welcoming

at the utter brilliance and beauty of their bioluminescence that was not

appreciated by you. they kept sinking down

⠀down

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀down

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀down

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀down

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀down

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀down

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀until the pressure alone killed them.