time stood still,
and possibilities appeared
as direction ceased

If the conservation of energy
means that all things continue,
this pause, this passage
from one moment to the next,
from one thing to the next,
may be the only real stop –
the ending that isn’t an ending,
the ending that is a continuation,
continuation through ceasing

That nothingness is something,
an emptiness that holds everything,
a passage that bridges and terminates –
something you might never notice,
but it knows itself

‘E looked at me, and I saw ‘er.
I learned the name of Acamar,
I learned what ‘e did directly from ‘er,
and I found something unexpected
within myself, that is itself
important about humanity; and that
is when I was returned to humanity.
It was the moment of deliverance
from my plight

Maybe this is a place of finding,
or a place of knowing,
or not a place at all,
and none of these things,
and almost anything

Spend some time in that place,
breathing and between breaths,
before you open your eyes
when you’re ready.

Soleil opened her own eyes first, after this. When she looked around, what she saw startled her into shushing herself with a hand to her mouth. Even when expectant, she was not entirely ready. Wearing the scaled humanoid form that she’d seen reflected in the giant tooth she had kissed, the color of surreal midnight, Acamar was sitting there with them, eyes closed. ‘E opened one eye to meet Soleil’s gaze, and then the other, remaining still and silent as the rest slowly returned to awareness.