Dispositive

 

“Falling Shapes” by TheChariot77

 

 

you sling my shoulders with your grapples

climb the back of my legs with your barbed-wire toes

coming higher and closer intent

for the unguarded portals that lead to my brain

I can’t reach behind me to swat you away

my arms just don’t work that way anymore

so I do the one thing I can think of

to keep you from reaching my vulnerability

with a rush I leap backwards and heave myself

crashing the window

for an instant I feel your fear crunch against glass

that explodes as we fly through its showering shards

you still cling for your life as we sail through the air

for seconds or centuries

deafened by the updraft our downfall creates

I’m surprised to see others are falling beside us

people who died in the near and far past

escorting our flight as they reach out

and yank you away from my flesh

overwhelmingly soothing relief floods my senses

I see you in pieces below on the ground

and notice the wind in my ears growing softer

I’m slowing

more floating than falling and find

I’m embraced by the ghosts who still love me

who judge me unworthy of punishment

not so much innocent

moreso not guilty

deserving to live yet another new day

invested with trust of their faith

that I’ll make good their gift

of my soul saving rare

second chance

 

 

(originally posted May 2013)