‘Melquíades’

Photographer - Tobi Brun

Melquíades

In childhood, midsummer’s midnight heat always welcomed gypsy caravans traveling southward. When she was young, their arrival, not changing seasons, ushered new life, released old. Under Aurora Borealis, campfires sprang up nightly; dancers swayed by iridescent moonlight, casting shadows; jubilant voices rose skyward. One enchanted year, an ageless, wizened man adorned the girl’s shoulders with a cloak—dyed crimson, emerald, azure, gold—inviting her to join this stately dance and ritual revelry. Swirling together, vibrant silhouettes melded into myriad flames of color. His cape long held magic from those beautiful, mysterious visitors, long after they departed, its splendor lingering.

Brandon W. Hawk is a Professor of English at Rhode Island College who writes about the Middle Ages, biblical apocrypha, and intersections with pop culture. He has published the books Preaching Apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England (2018), The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Nativity of Mary (2019), and Apocrypha for Beginners: A Guide to Understanding and Exploring Scriptures Beyond the Bible (2021).