Cranes in the Sky: An Experiment in Literary Expression
Sometimes a song just calls to you. The seconds begin to tick away and the measures take root in your mind. I never could control when a song would swallow me into its world, but I fell into "Cranes in the Sky" by Solange Knowles on a walk back home in a cool city night. The following short story is where the steady rhythm and airy vocals transported me. I am not quite sure yet where this exploration will take me, but I am in the business of oversharing. So, listen to "Cranes in the Sky" and enjoy the trip with me.
In that moment, they couldn’t get her. She wouldn’t let them. Can you see her? The colorful princess in the sky, floating away from the monsters and their gradients. She shed their shackles, and for once, could trace the beauty in the shadows. Here she could still feel the swell of her breath in and out. In and out. Never failing and never stolen. She spent so much of her breaths down in their world trapped in dejected wonder. She did all that was asked of her and yet each inhalation was suppressed. Her voice muted, her mind compressed.
Mama never taught her how to breathe this way. She made it look so easy. But none of that mattered now. In the clear air around her, she saw all they stripped from her. A kingdom of magnificent hues of yellow mixing in with greens and blues blossomed far ahead, and with the flow of life filling within her, she finally made out the colors. She felt the buoyancy lifting her further up, but how she wanted to settle down into the kingdom of her heart teeming with joy.
An elegant bird rested on a steel bar next to her.
"Where would you like to go little princess," he seemed to chirp.
Home. I’ve been gone for so long...
“It waits for you, what keeps you?”
Using her voice this time, the words spilled out, “I- I don’t know. They’ll find me again, and I’ve been gone for so long. How can I? I’m afraid I don’t know how to-”
A ruffle of feathers was his only reply; his eyes bore into the little girl until she choked out a sob.
She had to go, the clear air began twisting her head around. Her kingdom ahead now a blur of color and the shadowy grays around overtook her again. She could never escape them for long. Floating away never kept them from reaching into the sky. Her clarity up above gripped her soul and whispered for her to stay. But she couldn’t. Suddenly, the sky around her stilled. The air grew stale and bleak. No matter how she screamed they would not stop. They found their princess and they were going to take her back.