Report From The Edge

I didn’t want to come
I’m not the adventurer type
and I’ve heard that the winds at the Edge are fierce
sometimes 50 or 60 miles an hour!
People have been swept over
never to be heard from again
But, “It’s the chance of a lifetime!”
So we went

Just the journey was as rigorous as you might suppose
Each step one level more removed from society
more rural, more cumbersome
Jet plane to train to barge to mule team
And I, as you may have suspected, didn’t complain
Once I agree to something my doggedness in incomparable
But inside
my unease grew with every mile

Then, last evening, we were there
After trudging through the heather
-which I really quite liked –
The rim was ahead of us
a rocky, jagged rim of stone and then
Nothing

I felt myself rooted to the ground
safe in that one spot
knowing one step more was impossible
I heard the cascade of water tumbling over
like it was in some distant space in my head
Saw the rising mist
the kestrels dipping and diving beyond the drop off
Tasted panic in my mouth

I saw Paul and the boys kneeling on that delicate rim
talking, gesturing, laughing
I turned
walking back to a spot where I could no longer hear
no longer see the Edge
Picking a bouquet of yellow grassflowers as I waited

So goes my report from The Edge
I fear I shall have disappointed you as well