Stolen Breath

I find beauty in great heights,

but that's my biggest fright.

To soar above the clouds like a bird,

It would leave me speechless, without a word.

Yet I sit upon this tall rock,

Surrounded by the river's flock

Of people so ready to jump into the water

yet when I stand I totter,

afriad to see the sights below,

the sights I wish to know.

I ponder whether to back down,

or to jump and ultimatly drown.

Torn between these two emotions,

My brain and body in a commotion,

I sit upon this rock as a prisoner of my mind,

a prisoner surrounded by the unkind.

The looks they give, it means nothing,

my mind is racing, I must do something!

My body stands, my mind goes blank,

I walk straight like upon a plank,

I apporach the edge,

My toes rest on the ledge,

I stand high upon this rock,

and see a flying hawk,

it's height proceeds to mock,

my inability to leave this rock.

I am a zombie, brainless,

I jump, hoping for it to be painless.

The worlds a blur,

my stomach begins to stir,

It's gone black within my sight,

I'm stricken with true fright,

But I brave a peek,

Immediatly my mind goes weak,

I plunge my body into the cold,

My lungs are tight in a deathly hold,

I surface with fear,

I cant even hear.

My senses gone I begin to gasp,

Just trying to get a grasp,

on the reality around me,

I braved the jump and set myself free.

I braved the pain of empty lungs,

and a back whose muscle's had been flung,

flat onto the surface,

and had immediatly become worthless.

West Virginia changed my life,

and even through this painful strife,

I learned to conquer fear,

I learned to live, my conscious clear.