Saturday, May 25, 2013

Dare Devil




Dare Devil


on tip toe she walks the beam barefoot
on a dare to her heart
dancing on a current of determination
high above layers of simple air
the boys beam, taunt, and then shout, Stop
as she moves
across the skeleton span of the construction site
far out of her permitted play-time range

on tip toe she walks the beam barefoot
the anchor of her shame lifted
feels the shift beneath her feet as
purchase fails and connect becomes but
a former phantom phrase

on tip toe she sails the conclusive current
toward the ever close rising ground
drops through
layers of simple air
sinking, solitary, falling, free, 
five-year-old flying fast
into the ungiving yield of her
final, forever, fall
a smile flying from her face
hitting the ground first 


12 comments:

  1. Ayeee. Although I could see it coming, the shock was severe. Well told, but I ALMOST wish I hadn't read this one - such a contrast with your graduation day poem.

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  2. So incredibly heart-breaking, powerful and beautiful composed but devastating

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  3. wow - the words really took you in such different directions! This one has jolted me awake!

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  4. Pearl, such beautiful words dress this horror.

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  5. Yes, this took the gooey complacency from our minds as you taught us the lesson that life is not always perfect or predictable.

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  6. Brilliant! That smile hitting the ground first!

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  7. Oh that ending! I can feel the pain! Sometimes 5-year-olds don't know fear.

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  8. Oh, this poem hurt to read. Made me think of the small child who fell off a balcony just last week. Strong write!

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  9. eep....something happening to my kids is one of my greatest fears...probably stemming from my own wildness and there are def times it stung....ouch on the landing...

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  10. I was with her on the balance beam. Extraordinary tragic ending. So unexpected.

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  11. Some pretty Deep Inuendo, Perhaps, The Language Indicates There Is Something More Here Than An Innocent Accident With The Word, shame...A Very Tense Poem.

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