I am a demigod in training
and have a name but can never say it
I only know it when I am called
In the rainy days of heaven
we often seek entertainments and distractions
and having tired of several kinds of argument
I begged Behinjari to spar with me
Not often given to such amusements
he at last relents
Several of our number gather
for he seldom engages in the contact sports
He toys with me and every time I advance
he moves like water
moves like wind
and he is suddenly behind
in front of
nowhere near me
I go through the dance the third time
and decide to put a little spontaneous variation
in my movement
I lunge at him when anyone would expect me to pull
away
And he is not there
he is no longer anywhere
Everyone gasps in surprise
I laugh
but it turns into a troubled sound
I call for him to come out and show himself
Everyone looks about uncomfortably
I ask everyone to help look for Behinjari
and we look behind the clouds
we look below the seas and beyond the stars
we look under the mountains and within the hearts of
the stars
we look between the moments and across the time after
time
We look till we are exhausted and spent
I stumble while climbing back up the hill and feel
something
funny inside me when I lurch
I call the others to the hall and ask them to watch me
closely
I go through the dance a forth time
and pull a spontaneous movement
as I land
I lunge to the left
as he is lunging to the right
and there he is
He has been hiding inside me all this time
We all laugh till we cry
Quixotic as ever
William C. Burns, Jr.
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