the heron's wife

chad merritt, the heron's wife, paper cut print....see more here.

from the book the third angel, by alice hoffman....

Out of Nowhere

She was standing in the marsh and everything was blue. Water, clouds, reeds. He was a heron in the sky, then he fell to earth and was human. They believed love could be simpler than it seemed.

Out of the Darkest Night

When he was in her house everything outside was hazy. Snow, fences trees. His broken wing had become a broken arm. His life in the sky had become tea, biscuits, a bed with blue sheets. There was a past, but it was far away. They believed love could be too strong to fight.

Out of the Blue

She was high above them so she could see everything clearly. House, laundry on the line, pillowcases, sheets, shirts that were his size. When a heron cries the salt falls to the earth below. The world of the air meant nothing to her. She couldn't taste anything but her own blood. She tried to be human, pulling out her feathers, but there were too many and she was unchanged. She believed love was everlasting.

Out of Mind

He saw the feathers on the ground. Blood, bone, blue. He remembered things that the fall to earth had shaken out of his mind. He thought of nests, heartbeats, wind, her body beside his. He believed he had made a promise, but to whom had it been spoken?     

Out of Honor

He couldn't ignore the before just to get to the after. He had seen a trail of blood, feathers plucked from her own chest. He cast off his cloak and became who he'd been before. The earth became distant, but he could hear it calling him back. He believed he could leave and never look back, even though he saw it spinning, so beautiful and blue, whenever he closed his eyes.

Out of Hope

She waited every day. She waded far out in the water. Crabs, shadows, songbirds. She took the feathers she found on the ground and sewed them to her dress. She pinned them to her shoes, her hair, her coat. She climbed into the highest tree, where the branches shook in the wind. She looked like blue leaves about to rise. She looked like heartbreak, faith, desire. Why wouldn't he love her, come back to her? Why couldn't she fly away? She believed she could find him, but more than that, she believed in fate.

Out of Ashes

They both saw him, his wife on the earth and his wife beside him, and then they didn't. He was between them and then he wasn't. Hunters shot him as though he were a crow, as though no one had ever loved him, yearned for him, mourned him. The sky looked smaller than it ever had. A cloud stretched across the earth. They had believed love would keep him safe.

Out of Somewhere

They were standing in the marsh and everything was blue. Water, clouds, reeds. They did this every day. His wife on earth and his heron wife. They never spoke. They didn't have to. They believed love was more complicated than it seemed.

this post is dedicated to my hero, joseph dibernardo...go here to see what an amazing person he was.

happy birthday...love you always, joe.