Your hands high above your head
grasping, pulling, you down the endless rope of time
You’re hanging, arms sore but relentless tugging you further, further
Around you is darkness; the sky is black, the ground is black,
The only visible thing is the eternally winding rope
You wanna let go, you plead with yourself
Your voice echoing out into the nothingness
Over and over
Tears flow down, streaming,
your cheeks red and raw, hot as lava
Before falling into the murkiness below
You look down, watching them fade soundlessly
You wanna let go but your hands remain clamped
Stubborn as nails
But all nails become lodged in the end
That or discarded into the deepest cavity of a drawer
You wonder which is worse
To give in or to disappear
Regardless you’re forgotten
That very thought sends a surge of panic, nausea
Up from the deepest pit of your stomach
It’s hard for you to focus, your breaths are ragged
You look up at your hands, once they were smooth
you remember the shock of the rope, harsh against them
The old softness, the squishy skin
no scars bearing weight
But as you traveled, they grew calloused
From knots and loose fibers
From times you were so sure you’d slip
The rope burned your hands, staining them red
Skin peeling piece by piece
You grow and you dangle
Your arms extend, longer and stronger
But the thought still nags your mind
What would happen if you’d
Let go
But you never do; born grasping and live pulling
You tug and heave and drag your body further, further
Until the strength fades
And your arms grow weak, tired
You begin to crawl at a slower pace
Until one day you know,
It’s suddenly there
like common knowledge you’d previously been denied
And you pause
And
Let go
You’re falling
The rope above you is still taunt
And grows smaller, smaller
You are amazed
The entirety of it is stretched out before you
as you drift away, disintegrating into the darkness
You can see the past rope
The section you conquered
That touched you, marked you, made you
Fibers were bent and some prints, blood red,
Encrusted themselves onto it
Memories forever imbedded within your skin
And imprinted on the rope
Some small, barely visible
But others, red smeared an entire arms-length…
And the future rope
The section remained evermore untouched by your hands
Lasting for entirety
You look at it and feel tired
And then
It’s gone
The blackness, the emptiness surrounds you
And you continue to fall, fall
Numbness from your toes stretch
Creeping up your legs through your body
Till you’re consumed
Eyes grow heavy
They collapse shut
A new darkness emerges
Your mind
Slowly ceases
Thoughts
Worries
Till calm, calm
Silence
Greets the shadows
And you float
motionless
No rope
Not even you anymore
Just quiet
Just dark
Just
Endless