Don't detach yourself.
It is not wrong to love

Something
Someone.

Look at the piece of earth in your hands.
That is your entire world.
That is your gravity.
That is your rock,
That you use to fill your pockets for weight.

Don't detach.

You
       Might          
    
Just

                        Float

                                                 Away

I am being lifted,
Picked up to be cast down.
I don't know that I can handle such height,
The Light is overwhelmingly whole.
I was unaware of how effective the color black can be,
Vivid shadows are illuminated by my torch.
I am shaken by connection.
In this sense,
I am thankful for gravity.

i. the black hole

stars
they too fell
beautifully warped
frighteningly dark

nothing matters
time ceases

it's empty
there's only gravity
(and you)

you're trapped.

ii.the event horizon

point of no return

destruction-mode: activated

every inch
every ounce
torn apart

b                                            y            ­                                  i
                      t      ­                                         b
         i                         b                                                                ­            t

you're gone.

iii. the singularity*

beyond
another galaxy awaits
now
go forth

weightless
fearless*

you're infinite.

Go outside late at night. Go really outside.
Outside of your town. Outside of your county.
Make your escape from all of their lights.

Look for a place most people forget if you can still check your Facebook -
                                      you're not there yet
  
  Go when it's clear, go when it's cool. When the air is dry and when there is no moon, go
into a field and lie flat on you're back,
gaze out to the sky and revel
                                          in that

When you feel your hands clenching the grass so you don't fall - there's no turning back

Pay attention to the weight of your arms.
Feel the pressure where the ground meets the skin of your back.
Draw in the deepest breath that you can and release that grip on the grass.
  As the panic subsides and you realize
   that there wasn't a 'down' to fear
    There is no 'up' out here
          
          The ground doesn't hold you down
             it pulls
               us near.

When you begin to sympathize with the magnets on your fridge - you're right on the fringe.
  
Look into the heavens.
Look at all those stars floating around.
Imagine them moving imperceptibly fast
across distance so vast
that a thousand consecutive lifetimes barely amount to a glass.
Like water swirling around an infinite,
unreachable drain,
a cosmic fluid where all this you can see is contained and entangled,
constrained
by a simple but irrefutable fact
that regardless of size all mass
     simply attracts
        other mass

         When the stars pull on us
             we pull back

So draw in the longest, deepest glance that you can, when you can't picture where the nearest tree to you stands - you're closing in
  
Now ignore your weight. Ignore your hands.
Ignore the pressure of your back stuck not on top but to the side of this tiny speck of sand. Forget about this tiny speck of sand entirely

When it's just you floating,
pulling the stars from their skies
When the earth is the body
to which you are the eyes,
            you
                have arrived.

Stay as long as you like.


Mitchell Paradise
9.16.15

On the nights I accidentally sleep through the evening and wake when the sun’s long
gone,
I can’t help but think about how it feels like falling for you.
I say
this because it always shocks me, leaves me trying to figure out what’s going on.
It
gives me a loss of gravity, as though I’ve lost contact with the world for a while.
With
my being used to being alone, hearing your voice through my speakers brings
a
smile to my face. I can’t place the exact feelings. I have trouble wording it.
Shy
was never a word to describe me. But you’ve somehow shut me up, your
grin
alone catches my full attention. Whenever I talk to you, I feel grounded.
I
feel like gravity returns. That’s just it, I’m gravitated to you. Somehow, it’s
almost
like you’re the Earth itself. Perhaps I’m your stars, hoping you’ll make a
wish
on me. Take a chance on me. Perhaps, I’m even your moon. Maybe
you
look up at me when I’m hardly even here, a sliver. I do that a lot. I hate that I can’t be
saved
from rising and falling every night, because I worry you get tired of the cycle.
Me
and you together feels like a storm rolling in. The calm is long gone, the winds coming
from
the east coast, rolling through Wisconsin like a force only you could bring. By
myself,
I’d be intimidated. But knowing it’s you bearing the force brings no surprise. If
only
you knew your worth. I understand your fears, seeing as if I am the moon, and
you
are the Earth, I will inevitably leave your side for at least a while. But know I will
never
leave you. I revolve around you, and although I am not your sun, know that
even
when I’m gone, I am yours. Know that no matter what happens, I
**tried