i wanted to be weightless, he said
so i took myself deep into the ocean
i let saltwater fill my body and i let fish
swim past me in schools
and i watched the sea’s skeleton
coral
i couldn’t see the ocean for the waves
and i sunk down  down   down
and it didn’t work

i cut all of my strings
all of the things that tied me down to the earth
like so many certain balloons
popping
                    one
                                ­  by
                                               one
and i thought it would take me higher than i’ve ever been
but all i did was
p
l
u
m
m
e
t
the way icarus showed me