Falling

Abstract

Falling Marc Harshman (bio) Though we are born Clutch-fisted, when we die We spread our Palmes, and let the world slip by —William Austin, 1587–1634 He buried his father in March. The preacher preached hellfire—it was that long ago—the creeks were all in flood and the sky had surrendered to the lion. The organ moaned its tinny, electric pulse and the chrysanthemums were cloying and sour. He had hung his head and stepped outside for a cigarette. Although he didn’t really laugh, the sky did suddenly empty its rain and the wind pull up its skirts and run free, rising into roaring. And far to the west, the black surf of storm stumbled, and a blue seam of horizon lit with pink and yellow, spread itself above the tree line. He said it might have been God saving himself. It was March. Miracles could be expected. Some years found Easter as well as Good Friday inside its ragged arms. He went walking. Found himself on a swinging bridge staring at the heaving hump of the stream where it divided around rocks still glazed with winter. He told this story only once, how he got in a lot of trouble—leaving the funeral like he did. Standing on that bridge, watching that sky, … said he’d never forget the feeling that rose in his throat, the relief when he remembered to breathe again. He’d kept his cards close, the tremble in his hands clutched in the ball of his fists. Still, he’d loved; no one doubted. Call March a sacred month for its contradictions, for its truths. Hard rain. Mud slides. Flood. [End Page 72] And then the night breaks clear, the moon swims in curdled milk, sleep tugs at the stubborn heart. Into his arms he’d remembered falling, opening his eyes, opening his fists. [End Page 73] Marc Harshman Marc Harshman is the author of the poetry collection, Green-Silver and Silent and All That Feeds Us: The West Virginia Poems. His periodical publications include The Georgia Review, The Progressive, Roanoke Review, Bayou, and Shenandoah. His eleven children’s books include The Storm, and three new children’s titles are forthcoming. Marc is the poet laureate of West Virginia and lives in Wheeling. Copyright © 2015 Berea College