The FutureGrant Chemidlin
We’re standing on a hilltop.
From here, if you squint your eyes, you can just
see it, he says.
Is it small because of distance? I ask,
or because—decay—so much of it already
fallen away?
I’m not sure, he says.
I stare at the sky & a long, gray cloud
fills me.
Quick, he says, lie down.
So I do.
He takes off my shoes
& with
a gentle push—I roll
slow, at first,
then faster, then laughter
tumbles out like
paper birds.