Gospel, Chapter Seven: A Child Under Heaven

I.

One day
Not so long ago, Jessica’s eyes
Opened wide looking at the sky.
“Why’s the sky blue?” she asked her Dad.
Her Dad said, “You’ll learn that in science class someday.”
Her Dad was very busy.

Jessica kept looking at the sky.
It made her dizzy.

Only a few long clouds
Were climbing into that blue
So full of empty. Back outside,
Out loud,
Jessica wondered to the sky,
“So how come you’re so blue?”

“Why aren’t you blue?” said Sky.
Jessica wasn’t feeling shy
And placed both hands on her hips:
“I don’t really need
This kind of attitude from you…”

II.

The air came out of Sky
Swirling

And leaves and twigs got in her hair.
Sky sounded sort of mad
But gentle at the same time,
And the way that he was cold
Made Jessica tingle and feel warm inside.

Sky Said: “Why does mist rise
White in the morning, what makes rubber bands
So snappy or seeing grandma
Make you happy? How come birds have wings,
Why’s chocolate cream pie practically
The very best thing, how come people dream at night
And why does boiling water turn to steam?”
Jessica raised her hand quickly,
Forgetting that she wasn’t in class.
“I know that last part! Water’s steamy when it gets too hot!”

And Sky replied: “And what makes water steamy
When it gets too hot?”
Even though Jessica was sort of amazed
That Sky could keep going on
This way,
Still she wasn’t through:
“Hey! These are all trick questions, ya know…”

III.

“Okay, said Sky, “I’ll ask an easy one...”

“How come crayons make those lines
Pink, white, green, red, brown,
Black and blue,
Anytime you draw?”

“Of course cause they have colors.”

“What makes the colors come out?”

“Because I rub them on the paper.”

“Why do you rub them on the paper?”

“Because I like to draw.”

“And why do you like to draw…?”

“Just because I do, I guess… That’s how I’m made?”

“Phew!” said Sky, letting our a big gust
That drove away a lot of mist.
“I think you might be getting this!”

“Well then, how come I’m made this way?”
Jessica’s hands had just started
To go back on her hips again, when…

“THAT’S the trick question!” shouted Sky.

IV.

Sky widened both eyes and Jessica saw
That blue was just how they were made too.
They were just being blue.
So she replied, “Same goes for you?”
And Sky just smiled.

Then, for just a few minutes,
Sky rained oodles of little “whys,”
Making splashy puddles of word puzzles.
Sky’s sunny smile came back out to dry the last one out
And Jessica helped by jumping in the middle
To see how “whys” go scattering about.
Now Jessica was mesmerized,
Which was a whole new word,
And feeling almost wise
Even though she was only seven.

When I look straight up at you
I almost feel like I could be
That high and wide too, she sighed.
And this reminded her
Of heaven.

V.

Jessica stayed awhile
Staring at the sky. She was feeling
What it felt like being there with Sky
In almost the same place at the same time
And she started to fall asleep
When she heard Sky wind-whisper in her ear:
Everywhere has all the somewheres
From all over stuck together.
Do you suppose that every somewhere
Knows its only home is everywhere?

And Jessica slipped sleeping into a deep dream
About Sky holding her hand safely
Through the swirling leaves and swaying branches.
The sidewalks were made of air
And even the houses were floating around,
But no one in the land was scared.
And she could even slide whole mountains out of the way
Using her free hand.