she stands on the ledge of a building
shielding eyes against cold morning light
cars crawl below
industrious steel ants
from here, that’s the world: industrious, not alive
what if she steps off into air?
where do souls go after life?
clouds at eye level
white cotton candy
like so many things, slightly out of her reach
she stands next to glittering sky
after dark, the earth becomes space
stars made of cars and streetlights
one small step for man; one too-giant leap for tonight
she gives up and steps back from the ledge
and steps wrong
and slips off
and in space, no one hears any screams
the fall takes forever
longer than all of her days until now
life’s a bitch, then you die
but she finally knows what it’s like to have wings
and that everyone dies … but not everyone flies
she opens her eyes under blankets at home
heart beating in the silence of night
terrified, exalted, alive
away from the ledge
but remembering flight
Decided to dig up some of my old poetry. This was originally published on Wattpad. Image used under CC0 license.
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