Musings #10

CHAMPAGNE EFFECT

It is the giddiness

when you stand

back on earth, tangled

in the shroud lines of a silken chute.

It only happens after the first jump,

that leap into the unknown –

innocence like first kiss, first love, first song

– beginner’s luck.

Having jumped off the strut

alone into empty sky no longer blue,

skin on your face pressed into bone

– free fall of grace.

Pull the rip cord, violent jerk into feather float,

and you understand that silence

is the true color of sky

– why birds invent music.

Second time – now you have expectations,

know the dangers, swallow hard.

Touching down, face slack with relief

– no more to prove.

But if you jump again, you’ll jump till you die

singing, like falling in love after rebound,

sipping rainbows held in bubbles’ tender flesh

– three is a charm.