i heard a bone snap
when i was only about nine
the laws of gravitation
were in abeyance a while
but not long
before they taught me a lesson
in tough skin jeans like a japanese hessian
i was 70 pounds, learning to fly
i knew i couldn't do it if i didn't try
we called it the "field" where we used to hang out
a field of alfalfa behind the back of our house
with a slice of an old oak tree
and a 12 ft. plank
put the board on top
we got flying machine
oh my god we could teeter on this
or make lever that could shoot me into orbital space
i'd seen the circus
and i saw how they do it
with bent knees
you got to jump like you would from a trampoline.
we got out the ladder
and the heaviest kid
he would climb up top
and count down like
a rocket ship
to fire me up
he'd get to t-minus zero
before he'd jump
and i was shot high in a vertical catapult
straight up and down
i remember the view from overtop of the house
-gravity seems weak until you look down
i got in position
i had impeccable form
if the judges were present
they'd be holding up score cards
with 9's and 10's
unless i lose a couple points
for the landing i did
i heard a loud snap but it didn't hurt
i looked at the neighborhood
it looked like earth
but everybody's acting weird are they out of meds?
eating a peanut butter sandwich in a hospital bed
i started noticing
strange phenomenon
is this planet the same one that i been on?
everybody's bizarre and irrational
even nurses on the clock seem a bit off
strange phenomenon
everybody's deranged and i wonder what
happened the day that i fell from the sky
if nobody changed
then it must've been my
mind.
