Poem for Laura

Sorting through some old files today I came across this poem I wrote for my friend Laura a few years ago. I can’t now remember what prompted it, but I still quite like it.

I thought; ‘Shall we jump?’ and saw you look at me:

And you said ‘Shall we jump? Will we really be free?’

I said ‘I don’t know. I don’t know what’s below.

‘Will we land on the rocks? In the sand? In the sea?’

You said, with an odd sort of grin, ‘I don’t know:

It may be we never will actually land.’

I don’t know the moment that you took my hand

As we ran, as we ran to the edge and we leapt.

My heart thundered wild, and I screamed and I screamed, and

Felt dreadful for promises made and not kept.

We ran and we screamed and we leapt and we knew

There was no going back now whatever was true.

We went over together, eyes open we leapt:
We just had to; but we didn’t fall – no; we flew.