I am the invisible monster haunting the sky
and racing unfettered over badlands foul.
I am every gasp, gulp, and howl of a child’s cry.
I whip the woeful ocean into submission
with the wind-chapped hands of a merciless master.
Yet I will swallow myself into silence
so you may step into a quiet night.

So you may step into that busy street,
and dodge those taxis more monstrous than I.
I desperately catch up on every burst of exhaust
and follow your trail of cigarette smoke, sliding
under your door along with the last clap of city sound
to fall blissfully still in your presence, unbound.

Although I am the world-ripping hurricane,
I adore even more being caught
as the puff of dust behind your footsteps
and twirling your hair into love knots.

I will raise the rancor of the south wind
and tangle it with the frigid north,
crafting a cyclone under my will to bend,
conducting them into a vicious orchestra,
to funnel down a ballad for you, my Pandora—

My breath of hope, my steadfast monument,
my serene eye of the storm.
Your rebellious silence is achingly soft
for all my rakish violence. Your ashes
will burn on, my dear, aloft in my arms,
freed from this earth forevermore.

I will immortalize you, north to south,
memorize the shape of your mouth,
capture your precious whispers and pledge
to loop them like a promise ring
around my wispy finger.

So when the world evaporates,
and only I remain in its wake,
the sound of your smile will radiate
and ripple over the oceans until
we resonate into space. You and I,
the first breath of life,
and the final unending echo.