Notes About The Poem
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FIRST ASCENT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I grip the safety bar and breathe in,
my knuckles bleach white.
The gondola creaks,
swaying with the weight of wonder
The seat lurches forward~
I count each click of the gears rising,
each notch bringing me closer
to the apex where the sky hesitates.
Up and up! Below me~
the park shrinks into a toy set
abandoned by careless hands.
At the top, the world shifts.
Cars blend into the streets like melted crayons.
Lights blur into liquid amber,
streaking across my retinas.
My stomach lifts, not from height
but from the sudden understanding
that the world is round after all.
I can see the curve of it now,
the way the horizon bends
to meet my dangling shoes.
At the top, I stop breathing,
just long enough to let the moment
stretch like taffy between my fingers.
Years ago I wrote a memoir vignette ("Ticket to Ride") based on this experience; you may read it at Poetry Soup as follows: www.poetrysoup.com/short_stories/ticket_to_ride_13584
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