iridescent tassels
erupt in the cloaked sky,
gliding down
the inky black shadows,
reappearing in flickering waves to
illuminate seas of captivated faces.

with hair like summer’s wheat,
her presence is a mere silhouette
upon the perpetual tide,
the lingering scent of color
barely slipping from her trembling hands—
instead she tastes the sharpness
of the crisp autumn night,
feels the fireworks crackling
(as if under her fingertips)

and as her irises swirl
with the radiance
that eludes her milky eyes,
her senses
erupt
in a frenzy of sounds, tastes, and emotions
igniting within
what had been black
and cold for so long.