Upon the fridge was pinned a note

In hurried hand it had been wrote

It said exactly this, I quote

'I'm joining Johnny on his boat'

No further message there was penned

My poor heart, oh it did rend

That man was far more foe than friend

I fretted how it all might end

My girl was hardly more than lass

Although she could be bold as brass

And on occasion rather crass

She had no business with that ass

I'd heard stories 'bout that man

About his off-white panel van

My face went pale, I turned and ran

Mind scrambling to make a plan

My feet flew down towards the dock

As chimes emitted from the clock

Those schemes of his, I planned to block

That boat of his would surely rock

When I arrived, the dock was bare

Neither he nor she were there

I almost wilted with despair

He'd lured her right into their lair

See Johnny was a simple fool

Passing handsome, never cruel

He often hung around the pool

Making the young women drool

But I knew where he'd take his date

A place where bad men lay in wait

Their stone-cold eyes filled up with hate

I hoped I wouldn't be too late

There was at river's mouth a place

Perched atop the high rock face

These cloaked men had made their base

That was where my feet did race

I donned a cloak and grabbed a gun

I planned to kill them one by one

Oh they'd regret what they had done

They'd not live to see the sun

The trip took longer than I'd like

The cult's lair was quite a hike

I hid in bushes, poised, catlike

Waiting for the time to strike

What I witnessed shocked me raw

Rocked my foundations to the core

My girl was there, feet on the floor

I'd never seen her look so sure

A knife in hand, she faced the men

She sliced and then she sliced again

Til blood was thick in that bullpen

She slaughtered them from one to ten

I'd never seen her move so quick

Their bodies did she nick and prick

The scarlet ground became quite slick

The last man gave a death throe kick

She turned to where I hid close-by

As if she knew my eyes did spy

'You read the note?' her voice was shy

'T'was time for these bad men to die'

I stood up and smiled at her

'My girl, of course I do concur,

I wanted these deaths to occur

I wished we'd had time to confer'

'I tried to tell you once or twice

But what's done, it should suffice'

Her eyes were hard as winter ice

'I've ended virgin sacrifice'

Twirl along the edge with me once more,

Avoiding the abyss of sentimental words.

Take my hand and walk me to the darkness

And lean in for once more kiss, one more hug,

One more gentle graze on my cheek and look

Into my eyes with that smile I fell for years ago

And whisper those diabetic sweet nothings

Before dipping me off the precipice again.

I chose something smaller —

The point of a pin,

Not its head.

I do my jig upon it —

My dance of life

And avoid my Achilles' heel.

Flesh can be penetrated

By the density of a point,

But immortals revel there, impermeable.

It is true, we angels exist preternatural,

Contraphasic, and irrelevant

To the laws of worldly physics.

In the times when all is fair,

All other considerations fall notches

In timeliness.

And the sages argue how many —

How many of us — can dance

On this acicular precipice,

While Constantinople

Falls to the Turks! But — praise the Lord:

Our angel-counting is accurate.

Dancing on a precipice,

too close the edge

where thrill and danger reside and intertwine on a dangerous ledge. The full-fledged

adventurous soul, finds insurmountable pleasure in seeking this thrilling excitement of the unknown.

Though, they may very well meet their end yet they persist with hearts ablaze. They cannot resist the adrenaline rush or the kick so they go all in with every step they take. It's a leap of faith, that's required, whether they realize it or not, they have some measure of faith that they'll see another day once their dance is done.

Embracing life's challenges, and dancing to the tune of thrilling uncertainty they bathe. This is the language of the adventurer's poetic quest where they dance on the precipice of life itself.

Give me your hand.

Bring me to the edge of that round goodness and dangle me over that edge.

Make me question if you will let

go.

Let the mystery of all things quiet if only for one song

where you gave me a chance to shine,

at the center of that great world that no one knows.

When the song ends, and shadows begin to creep and this round, good world seems to flatten, let me remember this moment when the world and I danced for what seemed like

forever.

I've been

with nightwatch

hatching

and with

early wormwood

that has its brindle

from the dirt

rising

in the morning

I'm on my

own senses

in the dim

interior

of mid afternoon

fluorescent cubicle

with the letter, legal, or ledger

filing sheets and post it stickies

searching by rote

for a song that echos

outside... of recollection

01.26.2024

Dancing on the precipice challenge @dctezcan

Dancing, swirling

Through an unending endeavor

Hanging on the slippery slope

Waiting for a quick pull of the lever

Will we fall, land on our feet?

Or spin infinitely into the vast universe

Perpetually echoing a fervent cry

For help to endure the very worst

This world is a hoax of twists and turns

A precarious balance of the unknown

Often murky, nothing is ever as it seems

In this life we so often bemoan

Still we trudge toward the destination

Onward through toils, tears, ice, and snow

Hope invades despite insidious despair

Driving, propelling though the step be slow

Precipitous for all that the end may be

We fight it with instinct borne in the wild

Endurance persists, taking firm root

As though, in this existence, we are beguiled

Beguiled, intrigued, and bewildered

With our many apprehensions

We stumble yet move, dancing forward

To the ultimate precipice of our ascension

Your sister lay on my lap

after we climbed the plateau.

She is sturdy but tired and

your flask hovers over her lips.

Your eyes are a deep, deep pond today,

searching the western horizon for clouds.

I stroke her hair as you once stroked mine

and her pale eyelids flutter with dreams.

The light is all shades of pink and

this is the type of place we would have danced.

I stop searching your face for comfort

and I whisper to your sister on my lap.

Don’t you know, little girl?

Your yes to one adventure

is a no to another.

Okay, so keep with me.

There was a doll made up of bits and bits of stuffing falling out and ratty cloth

And this doll, sad dull brown button eyes and all,

Was dancing rather solemnly on a garden wall.

So anyway, this tin man-

What do you mean I said doll before?

This tin man, only metal to feel, no heart or warmth at all,

Was searching for something

As he made his mechanical movements,

Slowly, oilessly, searching for moving parts where his were rusting and

This puppet had too many strings holding her, right?

I didn't say tin man, pay attention,

Follow me,

Keep following me.

So they dance and they dance in a little merry-go-round on this well where the only way out is down

And nobody to save them but

Common sense or gravity.

You'd think the reasonable thing would be to jump where it's 'safe', right?

Kiddo...

When are you gonna learn that there is no safe?

Everything is insane, we choose the madness that serves us!

So anyway,

I watched that lizard climb up up up,

Creeping slowly and lazily with purpose and none at all

And I watched it get to the top of that wall and I

Watched it

Jump without any cares- too many cares- all woes

Thrown away and I thought,

Did I just witness that thing try to kill itself or

Was that the coolest reptile I've ever seen?

Skydiving, parkour, what have you?

The thing to learn, the lesson to take away from this is nothing,

You were never really supposed to follow me unless you really really wanted to

Because I'm not here to be your guide, you are and I

Am mine.

Because I'm on my own precipice every day

And for every choice,

There's always more roads somewhere

With only magic and madness to follow...

Why stumble and tiptoe and be scared when you can

Plie and

Do da robot

And cut those strings

And maybe even fly?

Won't know unless you step on off that thing.

Life's a merry-go-round in a tiny bit of something surrounded by a sparkly endless abyss full of somethings.

Be a lizard, buddy.

We might come apart either way.

We'll come apart either way

I was

almost

conscious

when I

birthed you -

ginger,

fiery,

devoid

of love

and hate.

Taking,

taken,

free from

the care

of change.