THE GROUND
She felt a pressure drop
A barometric shift
As the nights grew longer
The words left her lips
Her brain was underground
Rooted in dirt
Life drained from her body
Like water through earth
It thickened her blood
And drew lines in her face
She was root-bound
Pulled down
The earth had swallowed
Her air away
Her eyes burned bright
In the long summer light
She was electric
Buzzing
Amplified
When the air unbound her
There were no roots
To ground her
There was endless day
Endless flight
Her words
They carried her
There were so many
In the air with her
She was never more alive
Never more far away
In the clouds
She could scatter
Her mind could unravel
Adrenaline sat
Like a crown
On her brain
Time became slippery
And her blood moved quickly
These were the days
When it never rained
She felt the pull
The smell of the soil
The earthly impact
The spiritual withdrawal
Time pressing down
The volume turned down
The earth was swallowing
Her air away
Her words were her wings
Chaotic
Free
Unhinged
She never felt the climb
The way she felt the fall
There was a price
She would pay for it
And she had no problem
Paying it
To touch the sky
Was worth every fall.
