The Precipice

Just as the world tilts forward

Here where granite meets the void

where certainty becomes a stranger

and the familiar grows foreign

beneath my boots

The slope steepens into revelation

each step a small betrayal

of whom I was this morning

Below the valley spreads

like spilled ink across parchment

dark waters weaving silver

through the hollers Above

clouds gather in conspiracy

heavy with unspoken truths

that press against my skull

I feel the pull Gravity

or destiny I cannot say

the way stone calls to stone

the way the hungry earth

opens its mouth wide

My heels lift

The world shifts its axis slightly

and I understand there will be

no return to level ground

The wind carries secrets

from the depths ancient prayers

that taste of copper and salt

My fingers uncurl

My breath catches on something sharp

Fear or freedom they feel

the same at this altitude

One moment more of balance

of standing between before

and after between solid

and falling between the self

I carried up this mountain

and the one waiting

at the bottom

The world tilts forward

and I follow