A piercing cry erupted during my daily walk
It shattered my ears and struck my heart
In between the cars over there, was a kid
Orange, straight head of hair, a red head
So thick and authentic
I thought he should be called Orange head
He must have been 3 or so
Dirty shirt, with horizontal brown hued, pin-striped 70s style
His belly sticking out some
The chubby little guy was alone
I looked around - to the left and saw palm trees swaying
To the right, palm trees swaying
With blotchy white clouds floating on an ocean blue tapestry
Sun rays burning down on a hot California day
I saw no other humans, anywhere
Just a kid crying there
So I walked in front of him
He squinted as he canted his head up to me
Even through the slit for eyes, there was a sparkle there
Innocence and fear poured a foundation that still persists 5o something years later
Salty water streamed down his face an speckled his shirt and ground
Snot bubbled from his nose
One bubble popped
I sat criss cross apple sauce
Right in front of him
In between the cars and I cooed
It’s ok little guy, I got you
He muscled the strength to get up
Walked to me, a stranger with love in his heart
And hugged me fiercely
And authentically
And I hugged him back just the same
His body convulsed with left over crying spasms
The real ones, you know them, you’ve cried like that
I wrapped him in a blanket of white, invisible light
Frequency if you will
And my souls held on to him
Though he couldn’t see it, he felt it
The spasms stopped and I felt him relax
I stood up, with this baby boy still in my arms
And I will hold on to him forever