precipice

we are all, individually, nearing or distancing ourselves from our own precipices.

fascinating as the edge is, I keep myself as far from it as possible, in whatever way that may be. I have a long history of self-preservation that’s kept me from falling over the precipices of my own life, but I have also long been interested in finding the edges that others see, the ones that they may gravitate toward or repel away from.

it’s hard to see the edges of others’ lives; there are many corners and cliffs around us, and some further removed than others. we may be standing on one ledge, but others may be clinging to a handhold by their fingertips.

sometimes you can reach them, and pull them to safety.

other times, they may be out of reach, just far enough that to catch them would mean falling ourselves.

and sometimes others have pulled you to an edge you cannot see, perhaps that they cannot see, but are feeling for in the fog; one that they know is there. sometimes you feel for those edges just to know where the boundaries are, to see how far you can go.

we feel for these precipices to know what our limits are, but sometimes that means getting too close. sometimes it means we push along in the dark clinging to others for a sense of comfort, without considering that we are bringing them closer to the edge as well.

we don’t always control what happens at the edge. who could slip, who might lean too far. sometimes it is easier to surrender our peace, letting go of the clinging fingers of others who remind us that we are not alone, and venture on with the knowledge that the only person we can hurt now is ourselves. but what edges are the others moving toward without us?

these edges will always be there; we are always standing somewhere on a series of plateaus, the drop below unknown, obscured in the dark or the mist. it’s hard to know when our movements are taking us toward or away from a precipice.