Sophia (10 page)

I can’t wait any longer, Darling says.

We climb and climb, the thunder of boots behind us.

St. Darling’s blood fills the floor of Lady Liberty’s crown. A full moon is peeking in. Her eyes close as our daughter’s first cries echo into the night.

I love you deep as an ocean, I say.

At Wise Jane’s we are all around the warm table. Finger and Tuesday, Al and Hal, you and Nono, Darling and I. Willie dog is at our feet. There is corn and fresh tomatoes. Wise Jane
passes the wine. Boom and White Mike Johnny play dead man’s chess. John Lennon and Elvis are warming up in the lounge. We go to the cotton field and pass the moonshine and howl. There are birds everywhere. Birds of sapphire, birds the color of wild sunflowers. Sophia is born on a Sunday, a star that burns forever in the sky.

Michael Bible is originally from North Carolina. His work has appeared in
Oxford American, The Paris Review Daily, Al Jazeera America, ESPN: The Magazine
, and
New York Tyrant
.