He stands at the edge,
in his head believing
that the plunge
will not kill him,
will, in fact,
free him.

Yet his heart quakes;
blood rises to his face;
heart pounds;
breath comes shallow and fast.

"Thar be monsters,"
he has heard,
monsters that loom large in the dark,
yet are reported to shrink
when exposed to the light.

 But what if they're wrong?

His head says, "Don't be silly."
His heart says, "Don't risk it."

Text and
image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.