Dream of Water

                The water flows under me, so calm, so serene. I stare down into its depths. I see so much. I see so many colors. Not just blue but every spectrum in the rainbow is reflected in its rippling surface. Green and brown from the trees, the white of the clouds and the soft, pale blue of the sky above.
As the clouds part, the water is filled with radiant gems as the sun strikes against it with all its fury. I close me eyes, grimacing as I’m bathed in the hot light. I long for what’s below me and take no comfort in the cold harsh winds that surround me. They don’t protect me from the blinding light. They don’t shield and cradle. They only push. The winds drive me on. They take me farther from the solid earth where I began, closer to the burning fire of the sun before me. The winds of change drive me towards the cleansing fires. The fires meant to purge me of impurities; to temper me and make me stronger.
Still I long for the water. I reach below me. I stretch my fingers impossibly far coming so close but always so very far away. I see the fish, so happy, so playful. My heart is broken and so bitter with envy because now is not my time. Its not my place to be with them. Not yet. My place is here for now. With the other birds.
                So I shed a salty tear and let it roll off my cheek to join the many others I have shed before it in the water below. I let the winds shove me towards the fire ahead. I don’t know when I’ll reach them. I only pray that when I finally pass through the searing heat something will be left on the other side. I pray some part of me will remain un-scorched. I beg the gods that, when I emerge and shed my wings like Icarus, what’s left of me will have the strength to survive the plummet to the cool soft haven below. The strength to swim after the fall. To trade my feathers for fins and glide through the crystal sea with the other fish. Happy. Playful. Free.
                I close my eyes and allow the winds to blow. Allow them to take me where they will. As I sail higher I imagine the soft, strong arms embracing me, shielding me from the harsh fire and the biting air and I smile. I smile as I dream of water.