My Experience Was Different Than Yours
Some things in life are difficult.
Do you ever experience giddiness?
Refraining from using Who here,
What turns you on? Do you travel?
When do you experience a heightened
sense of guilt? Not ever? Are your
eggs bland? Here, have some salt
and pepper. Now are they better?
Your exam results in a frowny-face.
How do you feel? With whom do you
discuss this? With any depth? I think
about those underwater cliffs. They
often light up on the silver screen of
my mind’s eye. What cinema!
Yes, I remember how dark it was
down there, but on that imaginary
screen.... Those vivid, sheer bluffs.
Remember falling? As we fell
together I remember feeling so
high that I felt like crawling out
of my skin. But then I looked
over at you. I know it was dark.
Too dark to see. But I look over,
and you are so dapper in your
semi-dry. Our breath is in
sync. Inhaling and exhaling
together as we fall. . . . It’d be
years before we ever reached the
bottom. That’s when I blacked
out. No more silver screen. No
more light from darkness. The
climb up took but a week. I’m
never sure why I left you there.
Was your leg broken? Were we
playing hide and seek? I rose
from the shore a hero. But I
know what I am. I lie awake
most every night thinking of
falling, the memory of it, its
brightness, and the everlasting
solitude of celebrity. No more di
ving. Surely we can agree on that?
