Having, Worthy of, or Bringing -- poetry by Marisa Oishi

I am that golden

leaf dangling in the breeze

, only noticed for my destiny—

to fall.

another faint zephyr sweeps me up and I want

to fall, I ache to feel the earth between my fingertips, just a

single brush, but I am carried past a breathy tomorrow

, into a territory that belongs to

uncertainty.

I see pieces of me fall

for it's rather lonely up here, carried only by the gentle gasps of the sky

and solemn sighs of the air I

cannot avoid gravity

forever.

I want to fall.

is it misguided to contemplate

my fate as a goal

; can a process be erroneous?

is there a faulty way to flutter I

can neither catch my breath nor drift I

can’t comprehend the difference

between flaws and misinformed acts—

I am waiting to fall

and yet that seems to be my fallacy, my

blemished perception of time and

the veined variable that replaces it

when all my shortcomings are too

long to list

,

I shall fall

and we all know that, and yet

there's nothing certain

about it. it's like—

tell me to fall, and I'll

tape over all these fissures just to prove

, if only for the short-term,

that I am worth this seat on the wind of time.

gravity—

the universal force of attraction acting between all matter, it

won't matter if all these false notions

drag me to the floor regardless of

earthly principles I

can’t keep masquerading for those who

tell me to sink, to think that I

can’t keep repeating myself

, I can’t keep

this all in my useless, invaluable head

of gilt and guilt and

so I do what I

can, I leap—

and howl into the cold ether

as it prickles my suspended limbs

"

watch me rise

, in all my sunset-hued glory.

---

Marisa Oishi is a dancer, writer, and high school freshman from Washington state. Her work can be found in publications including Ice Lolly Review, Cathartic Youth Literary Magazine, and Feed Us With Words. She is currently in the process of founding a literary and art magazine at her high school. Marisa aspires to inspire others with her words and push the bounds of creative expression.