Thrown
Dare yourself to approach the Whispering Gallery’s
too-low balustrade and look down
Here his words
have been heard
by others
In my gut Dad’s
rum gift of vertigo
turns
It was first witnessed
by us all as we stood
before his loosened grip
up Leith Hill Tower
Now this cathedral’s
wall of death dome
kisses my ear
with a cold command
to drop
Tip yourself over to feel
that marble crack your struck head
In earlier years flying
was my dreamt gift
Sleep wasn’t a picked pit
of itches on my skin
with waking stiffness
in useless places
Throw yourself down – Michael
Now his vertigo is mine
taking my lost voice
It is not-quite heard
by my fearless children
when I see them high
on other parapets
Kids – I have my father’s old condition
and it urges me to leap from here