I Fell

I fell, 
Without even knowing I had fallen.
I wasn’t looking,
must have taken one small step
while I was talking —
or while I was listening;

Maybe it happened
while I was sleeping,
drifting in the ether 
of dreams woven from words,
or maybe I just didn’t notice
because I floated,
and didn’t hit the ground with a thud,
when I fell,

When I looked around me I could tell
things looked different,
things felt different,
I was exactly the same
and yet completely, irrevocably,
different

And you were there,
holding me carefully in your arms —
had you caused my plunge
into the vast unknown,
had you rescued me from a crashing fate,
or were you as much a victim as I,
holding my hand in yours 
as I fell

I did not know how it happened
or even why; 
whether the winds were strong
or the ground was weak,
or simply — whether fate gave a push,
sat back, and watched …

But I fell. 




may 2011