The Day I Fell Off The Earth

I've spent a life straddling the edge. It only figures that someday your foot's gonna slip. It's funny though. I never fell off by a lean. I fell off by a push and a pull. I never seen it coming.

the day I fell off the earth,

I was minding my own business.

really I was.

I wasn't looking for the edge

it just found me

I was on a wild ocean

fishing for flatfish

in too small a boat.

we were on fire,

too fully loaded,

and Frank was a madman

but that's not when I fell off the earth

I was on a mountain

rain turned to snow

morning to evening

I was alone and lost

eighty miles from anywhere.

I wandered blindly

as bears kept my trail

I bargained with God

but that's not where I fell off the earth

I drove her car

drunk and asleep

we hit the ditch at ninety, I suppose,

flew above the moon and half of jupiter

and landed in the corn

but that's not where I fell off the earth

I walked a railroad track

and counted cadence

while stepping the ties.

the rail tempted my balance

and on it I climbed

with arms outstretched.

while I felt the touch

I held my steady

and knew the smooth.

a lean here, a pull there

a soft blow to the wobble

and a smile to assurance of gentle guidance

there was no train

the earth was flat and wide

though I kept to the rail
and floated above the glimmered steel

that is where I fell off the earth

~Rick