"I sit upon a cliff..."

I sit upon a cliff
At its edge
At my edge
And I wonder

I look below to the steep
The jagged
The swirling
And I expose my confusion

The sea glistens
But dark and gray
Silvery in slivers
Slicing the bottom of the sky

What lies beneath
Waiting in the chill
Worlds of dizzying
Numbing depths

It calls me to return
To end the visit
To rejoin the essence
And I wonder

What brought me here
What journey traveled
What palms won
What toll taken on a body
Pained, ready
On a heart
Broken so often
That each resurrection
Barely resembles another

Who asked for this
Who promised otherwise
Who cares to create an identity
In the chaos

The air above the cliff
Is stiff with frigid purpose
It buffets me in no discernible direction
Instead it infuriates with its endless insanity

by larry harpel