A dream while awake.

There is a woman walking down the middle of a street. All around her the city has burned. Flames fan down side streets. Soot and ember cover the pavement. Buildings stand hollow. The avenue of trees is charred. Smoke chokes the sky.

She is walking down the street. In her cupped hands she carries a small pool of water.

People are yelling at her. “What are you doing? Who do you think you are? What good will your water do in this burned city? Are you crazy or just arrogant?”

She is walking down the street through the fire and the yelling. Her attention is focused on carrying the water. As she walks water splashes over her hand, through her fingers, falling small on the pavement at her feet.

She walks, carrying the water, the water spilling down to the ground.

Before her all she sees is the burned city. Her eyes sting and tear. She is walking into it. She hears people yelling at her.

Behind her, where water has dropped,

a field of green and light spreads in her wake,

the sky oxygen blue.