Ambient

You might look back with longing/To the Weightlessness, the elemental,/Of the early years

—Rebecca Elson, “The Red Balloon”

• I can only see her feet
• from the gym corner
• where I sit, a conduit
• wired to earbuds
• playing “Roygbiv” through waves
• of analogue synth
• connecting neurons,
•                                 feeling
• the shape of space
• in oscillations
• of trampolines
• and with each spring
•                                  light
• trails from her feet,
• beats the taut drum
• of gravity
•                                  into a lens
• that translates heavy
• into levity
• and as she bounces
• through the circuit,
• I am a balance beam
• of pride
• and ache that one day
• she’ll stop checking
• to see if I’m watching
• before she sprints
• to the straddle jump,
• yet on this Tuesday
•                                we breathe
• the same sound-light
• as she runs
• wholehearted,
• hair flying,
• sparking energy
• that buoys the air
•                             she leaps

Photo graciously provided by Birk Enwald from Unsplash.