Falling Song
Written for Erin.
She hears them singing and
lifts her head
hoping to hear the song more clearly and make out some of the words
It is a dark night with leaves falling
through the darkness
like rain
Endlessly falling, like soft sounds wetly clinging to blacktop and being pounded down by shoes
Endlessly falling, like soft sounds brushing dry against the grass and being raked up by great teeth
Endlessly falling, like soft sounds in the wind carried away away away
Go
far away from home
Sail
under the clouds upon the wind
Fall
where nobody can touch you and nobody can pick you up again
You were meant to fall
Fall where you want to and don't rise again
It is your right to fall fall fall
It is your right to fall
She hears them singing
and her hands twitch; she picks up a piece of embroidery and tries to pick out stars in the
dark pattern
tries to pick out voices in the dark
velvet night
Outside there is a tree growing with tall branches
that pretends to be a house and calls to children Come in, come in! Les enfants,
come in!
She does not climb the tree
She does not hide inside
Even then the other children dance within the tall branches and eat the sour green apples
off the ground
Endlessly falling, like fat drops of rain thumping down on wooden roofs
Endlessly falling, like stones into big deep wells covered with moss and untrue wishes
Endlessly falling, like the acorns and spiky chestnuts that they gather and roast in their kitchen fires
Go
anywhere their feet can walk
Roll
into the cracks between the continents
Fall
into the wide world to go where you go
You were meant to fall
It is your right...
She hears them singing
and the song wraps well around the crackle in the fireplace
The dogs whine and crowd around her feet
and she smiles at them as they look at her with eyes that love
eyes that trust
eyes that believe
She would whisper to them how safe they are, but she doesn't know their language
They are afraid of the sparks flying in the fireplace
Popping and dancing and spinning over the hearthstone and stair
like the acrobats at the fair
who knew how to spin and bewitch the eyes and look clever when they danced on the air
Endlessly falling, like promises that knew they were true once and fell in silent shock when they were forgotten
Endlessly falling, like good morning and good night from the windowsills of towns
Endlessly falling, like songs that mothers sing to their children and grandmama to her spinning wheel
Go
yours is the stone to set ablaze
Spin
they want you to jump from the tightrope
Fall
you always knew how high it was
You were meant to fall
It was always your right!
She hears them singing and puts
her embroidery down on the chair
She
sits on the hearth and the dogs put their heads in her lap, on her feet, against her legs
Outside there is clamour and soft song
tall and wide
big enough to fill up the ocean with one voice
small enough to hide in a little box
The music of a hundred years
sad and big
glad and tall
wrapped into skeins and sold for half a pound a yard
She listens to them singing and hums along
even when the only word she knows is pourquoi
In the big wide world full of the old songs to the moon and the angels
there are some songs that fit into boxes
and some songs that fit into heartbeats with all the rhythm of oceans making tides
for the silver in the sky
The silver in the sky that
falls down into the oceans like a song
Endlessly falling, like the books from the shelves onto the floor as tiny hands push them
Endlessly falling, like the I love yous he gives her over the wall at night
Endlessly falling, like the soft sound of the heartbeats of just one moon or one dog with black eyes
Go
wherever you want to be taken
Beat
and wake the world up until it listens
Fall
into the ocean or onto the floor or between the continents
You were meant to fall
It is your right to fall!
It is your right to fall fall fall
until the only thing left to do is take your clumsy hands
and wonder why
and
R i s e...
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