One moment I was looking down the subway tunnel:
left
right
and left again,
and the next I was stumbling,
tossing my hands out to
balance my toppling body
like a walker on a tightrope
high above the circus crowd.
A failed attempt, in the end.
My head smashed against the rusting tracks,
blood and brain matter mixing
with the grime.
The carbon steel rattled,
shaking the rocks and cigarettes butts
around me
and I was too dazed to flee the scene,
not sure if those were stars in supernova
in the distance
or the train prepared to make its stop.

Tell my father I love him,
just in case.