I am that golden
leaf dangling in the breeze
, only noticed for my destiny—
to fall.
another faint zephyr sweeps me up and I want
to fall, I ache to feel the earth between my fingertips, just a
single brush, but I am carried past a breathy tomorrow
, into a territory that belongs to
uncertainty.
I see pieces of me fall
for it's rather lonely up here, carried only by the gentle gasps of the sky
and solemn sighs of the air I
cannot avoid gravity
forever.
I want to fall.
is it misguided to contemplate
my fate as a goal
; can a process be erroneous?
is there a faulty way to flutter I
can neither catch my breath nor drift I
can’t comprehend the difference
between flaws and misinformed acts—
I am waiting to fall
and yet that seems to be my fallacy, my
blemished perception of time and
the veined variable that replaces it
when all my shortcomings are too
long to list
,
I shall fall
and we all know that, and yet
there's nothing certain
about it. it's like—
tell me to fall, and I'll
tape over all these fissures just to prove
, if only for the short-term,
that I am worth this seat on the wind of time.
gravity—
the universal force of attraction acting between all matter, it
won't matter if all these false notions
drag me to the floor regardless of
earthly principles I
can’t keep masquerading for those who
tell me to sink, to think that I
can’t keep repeating myself
, I can’t keep
this all in my useless, invaluable head
of gilt and guilt and
so I do what I
can, I leap—
and howl into the cold ether
as it prickles my suspended limbs
"
watch me rise
, in all my sunset-hued glory.
Marisa Oishi is a dancer, writer, and high school freshman from Washington state. Her work can be found in publications including Ice Lolly Review, Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine, and Feed Us With Words. She is currently in the process of founding a literary and art magazine at her high school. Marisa aspires to inspire others with her words and push the bounds of creative expression.