flight

So I think I may have finally learned how to fly, after years spent dreaming on rooftops and sending my soul up with puffs of wintry breath aimed towards the stars, after so many nights of practice takeoffs with an engine and a gearshift standing in for wings, under the moon with my headlights off, around curves and down hills singing and sighing through endless restless hours.

You see all along the secret lay in discovering how to plant my own two feet firmly on the earth, in not trying to leap till i knew my point of departure by heart. sometimes you have to hold on to learn how to let go. And it seems appropriate that it's Independence Day today, because suddenly i'm free from the laws of gravity.

Tonight I took off slowly with the weights of the daytime holding me down, with one foot on a pedal and the other on a curb, eyes tired & chest tight. Tonight my knees creaked and my bangs blew in my face and i swooped and soared through this city so big and so small, so close. Climbing to peaks of bridges so reminiscent of other towns (of other lifetimes) while the fireworks shot into the sky on every side and I think I shot up there with them too; I think my feet are miles above the asphalt and I'm liking the view.