It is late summer,
the sun shines its light on him,
his face reflected on the water’s surface,
the yellow lilies dwindling,
as Luca, my youngest son, sits on the top wooden step leading into the pond,
and marvels at the large green dragonfly, which circles and surveys its domain,
this great insect, the apex predator of his small aquatic kingdom,
who nevertheless shall be dead soon, by the end of the season, such is his short lifespan.
Luca possesses a smile as if a gift from heaven,
were I to believe in such a place,
and a mischievous chuckle,
both of which seduce and melt,
rendering me hopelessly in love with him.
How I relish falling asleep beside him, which allows me then to caress his cheek,
for a long time sometimes,
until I fall asleep,
its soft pale skin and that beauty spot on the right side of his mouth,
which together seem to make him even more perfect, and bring me boundless joy and calm.
His sapphire blue eyes, behind which lurk great intelligence, curiosity and kindness, now drift into reflections of his favourite subject…
paleontology.
Luca is suddenly lost in the ancient wonder of the Mesozoic period,
which for him at least is not ancient but present,
in view of how it dominates his consciousnes,
forever coming alive in his mind.
This period of life on earth,
it reminds us quite how insignificant we are,
a species destined for either extinction or evolution.
Evolution, to the extent that we will no longer be recognisable, as homo sapiens at least, but rather some strange future hominid species.
When will we finally confront and accept our inherent nothingness in the history of time?
Luca seems acutely aware of this stark truth,
the destructive boy in him, who wants to smash and break things, almost relishing it in fact, as he grins at me.
For does not this ultimate reality justify both his deep love and admiration for animals, as distinct from humans,
who possess an incessant need to elevate and distinguish themselves, as highly evolved bipedal apes, from other animals?
Luca sees this clearly, at the age of 8, the human delusion of superiority,
and it is perhaps this that makes him value and savour dinosaurs as he does,
but also why he wonders at future non-human incarnations, be these Avatar-like Na’vi or another equivalent being,
who will surely be wiser, kinder and stronger than we will ever be.
“Won’t they, Daddy?” he asks determinedly.
Luca then turns and smiles at me, as he considers this prospect, after which he starts to talk incessantly, as if giving a definitive lecture about his latest paleontological discovery.
All I can do is listen in awe, at his unending passion for these prehistoric beasts.
Talked out, at last, it must be more than an hour later,
he then announces, “I’m done,”
and rests his legs across mine, sighing deeply and smiling,
gazing into my eyes with the wisdom, kindness and strength of a Na’vi…
as his eyes close and he falls asleep.
I stroke his cheek, running the tips of my fingers across his beauty spot, his skin as soft as ever, and finally close my eyes also, lost in him…
my Luca!