the sky sinks its blue teeth <br />into the mountains. <br /> <br />Rising on pure will <br /> <br />(the lurch & lift-off, <br />the sudden swing <br />into wide, white snow), <br /> <br />I encourage the cable. <br /> <br />Past the wind <br />& crossed tips of my skis <br />& the mauve shadows of pines <br />& the spoor of bears <br />& deer, <br /> <br />I speak to my fear, <br /> <br />rising, riding, <br />finding myself <br /> <br />the only thing <br />between snow & sky, <br /> <br />the link <br />that holds it all together. <br /> <br />Halfway up the wire, <br />we stop, <br />slide back a little <br />(a whirr of pulleys). <br /> <br />Astronauts circle above us today <br />in the television blue of space. <br /> <br />But the thin withers of alps <br />are waiting to take us too, <br />& this might be the moon! <br /> <br />We move! <br /> <br />Friends, this is a toy <br />merely for reaching mountains <br /> <br />merely <br />for skiing down. <br /> <br />& now we're dangling <br />like charms on the same bracelet <br /> <br />or upsidedown tightrope people <br />(a colossal circus!) <br /> <br />or absurd winged walkers, <br />angels in animal fur, <br /> <br />with mittened hands waving <br />& fear turning <br /> <br />& the mountain <br />like a fisherman, <br /> <br />reeling us all in. <br /> <br />So we land <br />on the windy peak, <br />touch skis to snow, <br />are married to our purple shadows, <br />& ski back down <br />to the unimaginable valley <br /> <br />leaving no footprints.<br /><br />Erica Jong<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/for-an-earth-landing/
