we watched from overhead, binoculars zoomed
at all the people crouched, hands out, shoulders tensed,
treading carefully, carefully, heads turning, eyes scanning
never quite stopping, keeping moving
we whisper to each other:
quicksand,
trip-wire,
land-mine,
venomous plant,
poison tipped spikes,
bottomless pit,
other people
high-fiving when one makes it to the trees,
low-fiving when one doesn't
every now and then,
a person reaches out to steady somebody else
identify a trap,
offer their knee as a ladder,
shout a word of encouragement
and then, not so often, but sometimes
stretches out their entire body
a bridge for one, two, three, half a dozen people to walk across,
and doesn't get back up, melding with the earth, a landmark.
after awhile, certain of the way, pattern secure in our heads,
we smile down at the path, seemingly clear, direct,
heavy with footprints of those who managed it safely enough,
the light tread of the ones who started in the middle, half-way there,
or claw marks, dug deep, a struggle every step of the way, but fighting till the end.
we shake, just a little, at the scarred edges of the path
marked by blood and muscle and all the pieces of those who made a wrong move,
trusted in vain, or just started out hobbled, beat down early, not a chance.
after a few deep breaths, we descend the stairs, ready to try our luck,
while behind us, hands push, to help or hurt, we don't know
but when we get to the bottom, plant our feet ground level
and take a look at the whole wide world
all we see is tall grass, without a shard of light between the blades
nothing to say which is, which isn't the way
so we let our shoulders touch, the shared vibration of bodies
waking up some down to the bone urge, to fight, to break, to live, to breathe
while the sound of people moving, millions and millions, makes our hearts beat fast
makes us reach out, thread our arms through the blades of the tall grass and step into it.
we remember the traps, the dead ends, the safe spaces hiding danger
the people who lied, who hid behind shortcuts, smiled beside steep drops
Kate LaDew
Kate LaDew is a graduate from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a BA in Studio Art. She resides in Graham, NC with her cats Charlie Chaplin and Janis Joplin