Flying Lessons (Part 2)

I stand on the edge of the world

The lip before the fall

My heart at my feet

Cracked and trod on

 

My wings have grown

Huge grey extensions

Of myself

And they stretch out

Behind me

Tasting the breaths of wind

 

A year has passed

Since we first learnt to fly

And the memories

Of a hundred synchronised flights

Fill my head

A fierce mess of feathers

 

But this flight

Will be a solo act

The first without my second half

 

I lift my head

Holding it high

Despite the tears that soak my skin

And step forwards

Step up to fate

 

The world falls away

Behind me

Above me

Like a bank of cloud

Blown away into nonexistence

 

My wings try to catch me

Against my will

And they snap

Broken by the force of rushing air

 

I feel myself scream

The haunting cry ripped away

By the wind

As I fall ever faster

 

And in my memory we’re together

That last time

Before you abandoned me

 

I close my eyes as the universe swallows me

Falling into endless space