The First Step is the Steepest


more flying than falling
why wind and gravity use different axes
wind from the earth
the larger the building the more it tugs at people
tree wants its fruit back

the odds can be a million to one
but there comes a one
a million seconds is just 11 and a half days

a mouth for language
an eye for science
the happiest feet are the bare ones
hanging out of the window of a moving car

to talk through the turmoil
a rumor of tremors
waiting for the dots to connect
a pencil with erasers on both ends
a straw I have no idea what will come out of
this 2 by 3 foot cloud just beyond my grasp

or am I flying inside out
above a geo-tornado’s skittering whirlpool
the terrain highly inelastic
but such an event its horizon lets nothing out
and if i get close enough to the edge to see over

as wind is just sideways gravity
as rain can have so many attitudes—
joy, ambition, curiosity but never confusion or doubt

chess board, fret board, an imaginary 2by4
perched on a dead branch
til a step is a swim, tacking on gravity
like a yoyo that forgot its string
finding a world to go around or through

the next step, a door in floor, 4 wheeled windows
roof ready to flap away
as if the earth a giant bird
about to shake us off its back