falling
Mark DeCarteret

at that age
when most boys
look the same
they’ll almost
will it:

inviting the shove
of the bully
sniffing gasoline

spinning till
time erupts
blankfaced

sticking out
legs into the aisle
or taking
a tumble
to illicit a laugh
catch the glance
of a girl

now when we fall
we feel like
the world has
disowned us
looking back for
that crack or
that root

as if gravity
was something
we could pick
out from a line
up or brush off

even though
as we get up
we know we
are never
going to be
quite the same
ever again

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