You are standing in a garden.



above your head shines a bright star


on your left is a tangle of quartz





before you is a roaring pillar of fire


your breath is strong and steady and chattering birdsong fills your ears


behind you is a wispy cloud, wreathing a high rainbow-haloed cliff




on your right is a burbling tumble of clear water


your bare feet are rooted in soft moss




far on the horizon lay the ruins of a distant city