Step by step I climb the pole,
higher and higher I reach.
I don’t look down
I’m too busy looking up.

My fingers swim
into the indents of the rocks.
I’m almost there.
I feel the wind on my back.

I reach for the pale board above,
pulling myself to the top.
I’m standing looking at the mountain,
clutching a thick red rope.

The next person climbs.
The pole shakes under my feet.
Below are hundreds of wood chips
swirling on little hills.

The third person is up now,
I hold the second to keep her from falling.
We all step back
to hold each other’s palms.

I slip.
The second girl falls with me.
Our grip lightens as we separate.
The third boy jumps.

I feel myself moving through the air.
But I am caught.
I open my eyes.
Slowly the ropes I am tied to lower me.

I look up to the pole,
The forty-foot pole
that I just flew off.

-Solveig Gallego