A push and a push and a push

Rubber soles kiss rough concrete

And I’m gliding

The wind gripping and pulling my hair

My skateboard moving faster and faster

In that moment

It feels like all the laws of physics

Find perfect harmony within me

Balance, acceleration, inertia, force

Like an airplane going faster and faster

Before disappearing into the sky

Leaving everything else behind

It all feels so small when you’re flying

Like nothing on earth could hurt again

Just one

Small small small problem

A rock

Under the ever-quickening wheels

Of my suddenly insignificant wooden plank

And I’m flat on my face

Blood wells up on my knees

Tears well up in my eyes

And it feels for a moment like

My blood and my tears knew I would fall

And were waiting to baptize me

As a follower of failure

Lungs both full off too much air

And not enough

Arms splayed out

Hugging the earth for comfort

The board

Which once brought so much joy

Fills me with fear

So much I can hardly touch it

I get up and begin walking away

Before turning back

And with bloody shaking hands

Grab the board again

Because I love too much

The way it feels when I’m flying