it is not a sidewalk stumble, a missed step
a thing you right yourself from
and carry on
as usual
not a fall off a mountain, damage
done to every part of you and the
small trees in your path, tiny path
of destruction
It is as sudden
but also, slow
slow, and by degrees
more like a climb down
down a mountain to the
valley below
fast but
not
quite
out of control
there are places to rest
along the way
no map
no path
just a trust that when
I reach out
there will be a handhold
sturdy as a rock
steady as a mountain
Puff Of Smoke Poems 