a figure stands with both hands cupped and the breath stopped. something
is falling through the long air above. it has been
falling for so long that the catcher has forgotten what shape to expect, only
the readiness.
in some accounts what falls is a coin, in others
a sleeping child, in others a dream
sent back from the higher floors. the catcher does not look up. looking up is
the one motion that has been known to lose it.