Monday Poetry Jam -- Temptation

Cliffhanger

So here you are again, after all these years,
at the edge, staring down the gorge,
old friend you never thought you’d see again,
higher, steeper, whispering louder
than ever before.  Vertigo pulls
in the gut, looking out at thin air,
wishing you could plead innocence
instead of feeling old  shame,
how perfectly you understand the choice:

You step off into space and fly…

    feel the wind sing on your skin…
       blood boil in your heart…
            fall truly alive and free…
then agony – suddenly broken and torn,
faced with crawling back up the rocks
with bleeding fingers

Or you can back away through brush and stride…

     solid ground supporting feet…
         self-control reining mind…
             march with righteousness…
that turns dull gray slogging through the chill
mildew growing on souls of feet
numb with growing cold.

You act as if the choice is hard,

     dancing circles at the crumbling gap…
          asking air for answers…
                coward’s cry for sympathy…
Then why the struggle through the thorns
to see this awesome view again?
If you didn’t plan to jump.