
Why is it so hard to get the words
from here to there?
They are shouting across a chasm,
begging for a rope or a bridge,
anything to take them to the other side
where they can finally come alive,
living, breathing, and dictating a life
that is bursting to be heard.
Then I hear it:
“You can do it,” the voice tells me,
“Jump”
The chasm is deep and wide,
and I lose my sense of balance
as I stare into its nothingness.
“Jump,” it tells me again,
“You can do it, don’t look down.”
I shift my line of vision up 90 degrees,
the other sides features fuzzy,
but with outlines I can clearly see.
“Jump!” the voice says more firmly, “Do it, Jump!”
There is no guarantee I will make it,
no way of knowing if I will land breathing
or made up of bloody pieces,
but the thought of not trying is death.
“Jump!” the voice is now yelling, “Do it now, jump!”
I take a deep breath and close my eyes,
a vision appearing despite my sudden loss of sight,
every ounce of my blood alive,
and get a running start
and Jump.


April Aronoff
Photography By April Aronoff