Glass

She 
   ran out of the room. 
   up the stairs 
		hair whipping back in the rain 
	without looking back
   and as she paused to curtsey 
   at the top of the stairs
		she backed out of the room 
		respectfully
		her eyes never leaving him 
	his eyes never leaving her

   tripped
	let fall
		one shoe
		glass
	in slow motion falling in the snow
   cracked
   struck
	splashed glass droplets over the room
	falling like water
	like rain
		and she

   hesitated
 	fled
		vanishing into her golden carriage
		pumpkins and fairy dust
   vanishing barefoot into the night
	her feet
		tangled by briars
	bled
   home to her rags and her baubles

She
   was crying glass tears
	fell
	shattered
	on the pavement
		on the marble floor
   seeping into the dust of the road
	if she could melt
		she melted
   if she could hide
		hesitated
	are you following me?

   paranoid
	and he would follow her
		over the glass deserts
	walking down the thruway
		across the water
   looking for something else

She
   left
   to search for her future
   hoping
	with a trail of bread crumbs in the woods
		the lions crept out to feed
	at midnight

		he
	was looking 
	for a job
   embarked upon a noble quest
	to find himself
		do not return until you have solved the riddle
	the answer
		to the ultimate question
   he was sitting in an abandoned warehouse
	counting stars
		in formation
		the geometric array
   glass bubbles fell
   burst
	he caught one on his upturned face
	and it stung
		seeping into his eyes
   aged eyes
   gray eyes
   nearsighted
   after so many years of straining
	searching
	dreaming
		the mirage glittered
	
She
   knelt on the ground
   waiting
		in the ruins of his castle
	   in the middle of the muddy soccer field				
   in the place where he'd begun
		where have you been?
   without words
	he said
		croaked out a sandy gasp
		he had no words
	I have seen 
		so much
		he said
   wishing he had a gift
	wishing he had known
 		before he had left
   that she
	was only here
 		home
	in none of those beautiful exotic lands
   but now
	he had seen

She
   waited
	the dust of the road
		in her hair
			eyes
	sparkling
	like glass
   like a raindrop that had fallen
		once
	glass slipper
   he picked up
		a gift
	the moccasin
		where it lay in the dust
   before
   beside her
	she waiting
		for this
   and		
		without words
	she accepted the gift
   the only gift

   thank you
	it doesn't fit anymore
		you know
   	my feet grew after my first pregnancy
		lifting the baby on her hip
		her youngest
   but I waited for you
	he said
			she guessed
	he had dusky skinned children 
	in exotic lands
   was she more beautiful
	she wondered
	did not ask
		they understood
	each other
   and nothing else
		all of the world
	could have fallen
   the glass sky shattered
		stars falling
	it was evening again

   one evening
	long ago
		enchanted
	where they sat and watched each other 
	from across the room
		and wished
		they had danced