Birth of a Goddess

She'd never been to a big dance,
never been invited.
Called Tomboy by her brothers for so long
she felt it was her name,
Her smile gathered sunshine
from her shoulders
and sprinkled it in her eyes,
electric light
to the sound of music,

When I led her onto the floor,
her body resonated like a violin,
playing a beautiful song
I had never heard before,
my heart thrummed
from her touch.

I took her home after the dance
and asked if she had a good time.
She kissed me,
her lips dancing on mine,
giving me prickles of thrills.

Friends since first grade,
she beat me in a foot race,
then said it didn't matter.
Loved the taste of rainbows
she pulled from the river,
basked in the sun
hot as her red hair,
a white ribbon streaming in the wind,.

When bullies cornered us
and kicked away my books,
she swept into a swirling dervish
of flying hands and feet
that I just had to join
by her side and unleash
my best Apache war cry
and Bruce Lee kung fu fighting.

Later under a warrior's moon,
giggles and laughs burbled
like elves over our bellies,
and I told her she was the best
girl I ever knew,
and pretty too,
her cheeks burned bright red,
embers in a Christmas fire.

But tonight after the dance
as I watched her
go through the door
flying inches over ground,
her smile a pretty red ribbon,
I wondered how or what
had transformed her into Goddess.

-- Aurelio