Impact

Plummeting to the ground

like a broken-backed bird.

The wind makes it hard to breathe.

This is actually taking longer

than I thought it would.

Or am I falling in slow motion?

I wasn’t expecting time

to observe

or have a think.

I’m breaking through

thick white cumulus clouds.

They should be made of thick cotton

and break my fall,

but they are made of misty nothingness.

Wouldn’t it be great

if they were unexpectedly sticky?
Or shattered like glass?

The sky is the same blue

that children use to color

their pictures on your refrigerator door.

Can you believe I don’t even know

how I got up here?

I just woke up like this,

honestly!

I’ve had horrible falling nightmares before

and wake up with a start or a stifled shout

in my own bed,

but this isn’t that.

And this falling is actually more enjoyable

than the dark descents of my dreams.

If I stretch my legs out straight behind me

and press my arms flat against my sides,

I am a screaming bullet.

If I open my arms and flap them like wings…

well, I still can’t fly,

but my dive slows a bit.

It’s something to do, anyway.

The ground beneath me is a field of green and brown

growing larger and larger.

Over there is a tree.

A pond not too far away.

A red and white cow bends its head to the grass,

chewing with a lack of concern.

A black and white shepherd dog snoozes

in a ray of sunshine.

I think I hear a trace of birdsong.

What a lovely...