A Bolivian Lantern Dreams

Cavern walls held their breath

As sweat clings to cotton shirts,

Breathing,

limbs commit to the trek,

tensing and releasing

Silence pressed like draperies formed on ceilings,

Unhurried

Whites of eyes fall on a single light emitting from a lantern

Flickering unsteady as we maneuver compressed space

Pitch black,

rough rocks scrape skin the length of our bodies

a sliver before crushing,

The air moist and heavy from racing heartbeats

Choking on shared oxygen

Until a small speck of light reflects,

bobbing into view, a ghostly lantern,

whispers,

“I’m still here”

Breath returns to a steady hum

Solid rock fades into o-p-e-n low blue, black

Bolivian sky

My chin tilts up, feet planted into the flat red desert

the gusting breeze releases my shirt

Cooling then chilling my damp body,

breathing

If I stood on my toes, I could reach the stars

Your eyes find mine

shy smiles beam into each other

You wait,

as I fall into step beside you

Breath catching, body heat radiating

Pulsing electric blue

As our fingers slide into interweaving

home

Lantern flickers out,

extinguished.