“Safe” by Christina Knowles

“Safe”

When I stare point-blank

Into all that is not there

And realize this sham

For what it is, the mist

Dries up, the fog dissipates like on the lenses of glasses

Unexpectedly, everything is clear.

What, then, do I attribute

This unrelenting life?

How does one risk all

For one last roll of the dice

When the odds are always against?

Easy, easier still with nothing

Nothing left to grasp

Holding loosely, how can I not fall?

I see me slipping through cracks

I pretended not to see

Too dangerous, precarious at best

So, I am frozen to this unlikely spot

Reduced and fading as a dream

Uncharacteristically still

Furiously safe

Counting out my days like pennies in a jar

Abundant and worthless

Cruel irony that I know how to live

And yet

Refuse

—Christina Knowles (2015)

Photo snagged from odinist.org