Baalam Seeing

He didn't see what she saw,
his job got in the way
while hers was much simpler;
to carry him on the road.
Finally, he got it,
saw the luminous angel
with the sword
looming over him
like a thousand-foot bonfire.
He fell from her back,
pressed his face into the path,
his eyes cramped shut
to close out everything
that wasn't angel.
He saw.
His body dissolved, he fell
in a dizzying swoon,
every mote awash
with angel fire. Then
it was gone, leaving him
breathless on the ground.
He dragged himself
to the mountain's edge,
and lifted up his eyes.