by Brijida Prano

Ice, perpetual Winter.
In the Treasure Chest, the object lay
Suffocating, unacknowledged, dying, frozen.
The horizon held no hope.

Inside Earth’s blazing core,
In the cool blue skies that embraced it,
The Temperature Regulator saw visions-
Time was quickly running out.

Moved by deep compassion,
Regulator breathed warm, hopeful winds,
Thawing the frost, slowly reviving the object.
Regulator watched, smiling.

It moved, breathed, slowly blossomed,
But its progress was awkward, painful.
Real as a kiss one moment, but at another,
Volatile as a dream.

Frowning, Regulator
Bent to touch it, but met only air.
Anxious, he breathed warmth again, watching it closely.
But all seemed lost to cold death.

Though he prayed lovingly, passionately, hope eluded him.
The heart of the object simply would not beat.
Finally, Regulator left the object to freeze, to die.
For what seemed an eternity, he let it lie in the Chest, paying it no heed.
But his visions plagued him, gave him no rest.
He could not long deny them their fruition.

One cold day he returned.
With trembling hands, he took the object
And kissed it, blessed it, rewarded its sweet patience.
Stepping back, he watched, waited.

The past eternity
Had not been conducive to life- Now,
Regulator began to see his visions fulfilled.
The time had now come to live…

The world had never seen
A more exquisite, solid object
As the hearting beating eternally in the Chest
Of the Regulator.