The Freshest Air

swing sets---have this way about them

when you’re up in that momentary air

you can reach up and catch infinity

before sewing it into your pockets.

-----for that split second

gravity has nothing on you.

you are the sole owner of your existence,

the ruler of a realm between sky and ground,

you are the dandelion seeds that float every once in a spring breeze,

the sound of the sigh that comes after stomach aching laughter,

you

just

are.

 

it’s 2 in the morning.

you bite your lip, flinching as the last stair creaks while you sneak out

to drive all the way to the park on the other side of town

because you know that those swings lift you the highest.

in the dark,

the moon beckons you to come closer,

he has a teasing smile tonight

promising you secrets about the stars.

so you pump your legs back and forth

letting the fireflies kiss your toes

as the coolness of a crisp fall air

wraps around you in a familiar comfort.

and when you’re up, up, up

you can almost smell the fresh pot of coffee that your best friend is brewing

because after thirteen years what week is without a 3 AM visit?

 

I mean swings? They literally, uplift you

---they carry you as you fly

it’s 8 in the morning

right after a run you convinced yourself would be good for you

but the real reward was the tire swing that the neighborhood kids tied to the biggest tree in the cul-de-sac

you soar into the air trying to catch a cloud with your mouth

wondering if it tastes like cotton candy

for one brief moment you pretend that you’ve let go

and you really are soaring

you are a bird without wings

the only feathers you have ever wanted

are the kind that fall out of the pillows you and your sister spar with  

the kind that tickle you pink

 

when you think pink

you think swing

because what better time to walk to the school park

you spent every recess at as a kid and

see the sun melt into colors that you imagine taste like fresh strawberries

as your legs go into the air

you point your toes trying to swirl that raspberry-orange color until

it leaps off the canvas of the sky and inches up your skin

until you resemble the flowers that would grow in your grandmother’s backyard

the ones that you would weave through your hair because it made you feel beautiful

 

but the best time to swing

is when you can watch the wisps of your breath

compete against falling snowflakes

as you reach to capture the powdery puffs on your tongue

even though your nose is bright red

and the winter cold is biting your ears

you don’t mind because

 you love the sound that the crunch of white beneath you makes when you launch up

and meet the freshest air you have ever known

 

swing sets –with their special way

are a capsule of memory

a place where thought comes floating down with each self- created breeze

where the rush of gravity is really just a momentary time machine

giving you glimpses of the happiness woven into the fabric

of your existence.

Comments

giaraffe

Jordan Lewis

Great poem, it's truly amazing how something that some people take for granted like a swing could be such a big happiness to others who look at it as if it were a miracle!

Glass_Anatomy

This poem is absolutley incredible, I LOVE it . When reading the poem I remembered the times when I would swing with my younger brother and how the simple act of sitting upon that swing moving either with or against the wind made my heart feel like I was soaring. The time I was dared to close my eyes and jump and when I did ...I swear to this day I was flying ,even if for a split second I flew. So thank you for writing this beautiful poem and bringing me back to my forgotten childhood . :)

kristian_kristiandejesus

wow.... I really love this! This is such beautiful imagery and I love how in every stanza you bring the imagination to a different feeling of experience from a swing set. Not only is it nostalgic, but I feel that it if you have never experienced a swing, you will want to now. I especially love the first and second to last stanza because the language and structure gives you that feeling of being at the end of being frozen at the ending point of a swing on the swing set, and then you have that contrast/comparison of being in the cold on a swing and breathing in that frozen air as you swing.

TWO THUMBS UP!

Juliette Aurora

Swing sets:) Ah, those things bring back memories for me. This poem is awesome throughout! :) I loved reading this! The imagery in this poem is just wonderfully put into words! :)

saima.junaid

Absolutely wonderful......all the best preety young girl.

Victoria B.

This poem has to be among one of my favorites on Power Poetry because of the beauty of something so simple. It reminds me of one verry simple poem wrote by a famous poet: William Carlos Williams called The Red Wheel Barrow. 

so much depends

upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white 

chickens.

I enjoy the simplicity of this poem because it takes something in our everyday lives, or past, that we don't always think about but makes us think. Of course you use a great deal more imagery (That is fantastic might I add) but the similarities between the way he writes something so simple and makes us think about it and you write a poem about something that touches the heart of most people and you make us think about our feelings and bring forth those feelings like any good poet would. 

cyngali

You truly have a gift. I love the emotion you put into reading it. Great job!

 

TenaGordon

Great use of imagery and description. Your poem is so calming.

ArieLuvv

I loved the fact, that you took it upon yourself to share something so simple, yet so deeply meaningful at the same time.

Absolutely beautiful

WordSmith_15

:55 seconds in and I love t. It is amazing. and by the way your voice is perfect for poetry or story telling in general. so captivating. 

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