you fall

and keep falling

past ledges and branches and scree

past boulders and plateaus untouched

crash and burn
on crags and teeth

your own choice to slip or stay
a choice that continually fades

save yourself
save yourself
save yourself first

grasp the old and dying leaves

and pull

tear your skin on rough-shell rock

and pull

take the hand that's bringing you up
bringing you home

and reach down to take the next one

and pull

don't slip away again
or at least not unprepared

///

no story can be truly original

always a basic curve of up and down
and up
and down again
all in varied ways

the hero will rise, the hero will fall

and the hero may rise again

this is how it always was
this is how it always is
and how it always will be

perhaps

a cycle so abstract is hard to break
once it is fallen through

but there are still branches to cling to
still rocks to break your fall

you can still climb back up again

just need the stepping-stones first