Poetry Wednesday #31

View of Cliffs of Moher by Clethbridge8 [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Risk Assessment

I stand upon a precipice,
The road behind me stretches far,
Before me is the sky above
And rocks below.
Back home, the door is left ajar
For my return.
This I know.
This I know:
A decision must be made.
To take a chance,
To spread my wings and try to fly,
Or to turn around and walk back
Down the road I just came by.
I am afraid.
For though I long to soar the skies,
I see the broken bodies of those
Who tried and failed,
Who fell upon the rocks
Because their wings would not bear
Their weight.
I wait.
I wait and watch and feel the wind
As it flows over my skin.
I hear the laughing cries of those who fly
So high in the clear, blue sky.
I yearn to join in their flight,
To dance upon the stars at night,
But I fear the other fate:
That my wings can't bear my weight.
Because I hear, also, the pleas and moans
Of those who crashed
And were left alone to die in pain.
I CAN go back
To the life I know.
Return defeated to my home
Without having taken a blow
(Except to my own ego),
And live knowing I lost my chance
To step into the sky and dance
Because I was too afraid of
Crashing to leave the ground.
What life is that?
To fail,
To fall
Before I even try to fly.