Flight

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

#poetry

Decided to dig up some of my old poetry. This was originally published on Wattpad. Image used under CC0 license.

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https://steemit.com/poetry/@sndphoenix/lost-and-found