Waiting for the Sky
Countdown on the edge of zero
Edge of a cliff
Can't stop—
The cartoon whistle has begun its descent.
The crash is coming,
It's coming like a crippled plane.
The terrified whine of the engine to
Please, tik tik tik
Please return it to the sky
Is obliterated by
The roar of trees without the power to
Run.
Trucks cracking, boughs
Til tik tik
Snapping, roots clawing for the ground
But they fall, and they
Fall, and they
Fall, and they
Thought the falling would be over by now.
But the countdown hasn't hit
Zero, but the Cartoon Recording Studio Manager
Has not turned off the
Whistle, but the plane seems to have no interest in
Landing—
No, that would be too
Easy, too quiet, too
Still to kill the engine and
Shoot the Recording Studio Manager and
Smash the timer and end
This end
This end
This endless descent—
But those are dead ends,
The kind people don't come back from.
I cannot uncrash a plane or
Pull a bullet backward through time.
I cannot mend frayed
Wires or
Bend mangled
gears—
I can't, I
Can't, I can't,
I can't but I can—
I can still see the sky.
The sky is still there, it's
Still there, still
There, still there—
Out of reach,
But still there,
Still there,
Still there.
And until the numbers ascend,
And the whistle reverses,
And the plane clears the treetops,
I will survive by remembering
The sky is still there, still there, still there.
Whatever it is you love, whoever makes you smile, those beautiful little things that make life worth living, they will still be there after this exam. Don't forget that. Don't give up on yourself. Best of luck!!
