Song of Solomon

by Toni Morrison

Milkman bent low to see her face and saw darkness staining his hand.

Now he knew why he loved her so. Without ever leaving the ground, she could fly.

he leaped. As fleet and bright as a lodestar he wheeled toward Guitar and it did not matter which one of them would give up his ghost in the killing arms of his brother. For now he knew what Shalimar knew: If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.