rocket launch

5

warm droplets of sweat

collect

on the back of my neck

drip

am i ready

4

heart threatening

to shatter thirteen 

of my twelve ribs

with its snare-like beat

am i ready

3

muffled sound

ricochets around my ear,

echoes, rumbles,

yet i can’t hear

anything

besides my heartbeat

am i ready

2

i think i’m hyperventilating

scared to let too much air enter my lungs,

i refuse to let it leave

and allow sunspots

to dance in my blurry vision

am i ready

1

i hear it 

boom 

suddenly like i’m part of an action movie

smoke and hissing steam

make up the world behind this tiny window

my eyes blue as the ocean i picture

below me & roving, crashing wildly

inside their realm of darkness we call a socket

but my heart beats right 

[hope] tucked inside my chest inside my skin inside this rocket

and my head is spinning like the little marble i am leaving

i smile

i am ready

blast off