Everyone Gets Back Aground Somehow

Everyone gets back aground somehow.
And I will admit I was more than a little scared.
Anyone who knows me knows my distaste toward hyperbole.
So, know this: I was terrified.
When the guide yelled, “go! go! go!”
My first step, I felt my calf muscle pull,
A searing pain.
But how could I turn back now?
This fear of heights, or this fear of falling. I’ll shut it out for now.
So, I kept running, until my feet felt no ground.
And, for seconds, or maybe just one,
I hung in the middle of air,
Until the guide behind scooped me into the chair between us.
But, I swear, I only got halfway inside,
All the way down.
“It’s OK,” he said in broken English. “It’s OK, It’s OK.”
My mind kept coming back to uneasy thoughts:
What if I fell?
What if this cord connecting us somehow became unhinged?
What if I unhinged it?

Everyone gets back aground somehow.
There are ways better to some than others.
Some hoot all the way down.
Some find peace they didn’t have while waiting their turn.
Some think about dinner.
Some wonder what loved ones would be told if something went awry in the sky.
Could two kilos over really cause a valid concern?
Am I really half out this sky bucket guided by Korean air
Are my legs really shaking so,
Or can I be a little less worried about being so out of control?
Can this cool, thin oxygen guide me in greedy gulps,
Instead of I trying to control every step,
Improbable feat for feet what feel nothing but fair air under there?
“Scared,” was all I could muster, bereft the bluster of others.

Everyone gets back aground somehow.
So I did.
I went around and around and around and around.
Looking at clouds and trees all around.
But, I dared not look down.
Occasionally, I breathed,
Until the ground was found.
I did not think about dinner.
I struggled with peace.
I did not hoot and holler.
But, here I am.

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JPDdoesROK is a former news editor/writer in New Jersey, USA, who served a one-year tour of duty in Dadaepo/Jangnim, Saha-gu, Busan from February 2013 to February 2014. He is now a teacher in Gimhae.