we get to a clearing
and out before us opens a chasm
100 feet across
at least a tenth of a mile wide
and 80 feet straight down to blue calm water
water furred by a gentle breeze passing through the quarry bowing a soft tone
we stand for a moment
not in awe
but in some other, familiar mode
some of us had been there
for others this was their first
i’d been there before
but didn’t know it well, the way i do now
we started goading
telling one another how easy the jump is
how to hold oneself
how to angle your feet when you crash into the water 85 feet down
at that height it’s concrete
so you have to split the surface tension
otherwise you’d crumple
people laugh and open beers
sun rakes through the few standing in the sober stoned world of contemplative and possible action
i stand on the rock
throw my towel behind me
grab a beer from a blond boy’s hand
and take two gulps
i look down
up
and straight ahead
and the ground disappears