You see that bridge that stretches over the highway?
You remember that feeling, that rush when we stood on it
Together, hands locked tight, fingers caressing each
Others knuckles softly?
Our toes laughed at the roaring air, ready to soar
Away with it, flying into the air like a bird.
Your hair was like a golden hurricane, whipping
Around your pale, nervous face feverishly.
Your hand was starting to shake,
And your breath came out in tiny, delicate
Gasps that were stolen by the wind around
Us.
The cars rushed beneath us, like the gnashing teeth
Of some beast, a machine. The people with their
Busy lives never glanced up to
See two teenage girls wavering on the edge of
Life and death.
They would notice when our brains were on their
Windshield, and your beautiful storm of hair hung
Damp and limp, stained with scarlet and tears.
I stared at you silently, and it hurt me to
See you cry. I wanted to lean over and
Kiss your tears away,
Balancing precariously on the edge of the bridge,
Your uncertain and pained breath on my cheeks.
We stared as the cars raced by, each one a separate
Life speeding away; a drunken man whose wife couldn’t
Take him, a young college girl who was on the road to
Success, and the middle aged woman who fretted
Over her marriage. Each a life that we couldn’t touch
No matter how hard we tried, or how far we
Reached.
Your foot slipped at that moment, and
Your breath caught as you yelped a little,
A scream dying in your throat
As you realized you were still safe, your hand
Gripping mine tightly, a promise to
Never let go, to fall and burn together.
I looked at you again, my chin held high and
My eyes burning brightly, and I stared
Into your glittering eyes,
Those green eyes that looked like the
Morning grass with when it cried with
The sparkling dew of the rising sun,
And you looked back at me, fearful and
Reluctant.
I could hear your heart beating, slamming against
Your chest, the blood pouring through your
Veins like sand slipping through fingers, thick and
Fast. You turned away, and your hand loosened,
Fingers reaching for mine before
Slowly falling away.
You leaned forward over the edge and I let
My hand drop to my side.
Fall, fall, fall.
Your mouth gaped open,
And yet no voice pierced through the loud
And noisy highway, the screaming of
Cars and people not stopping to take notice of the
World they shoved through.
You closed your eyes as the first person looked up and
Stared.
The wind slowed and the air thickened, and
I felt your hand in mine
Once more.
I'm horrible at this kind of thing. It would have been mediocre as prose, but I knew it would be beautiful as poetry, and yet... It's still more like prose.