Edge

by Cliff Lake

Should you find the edge of the world,
What would you then?
One step forward and
Might you be carried out of time,
Swept to existence ethereal,
Or to some terrible end,
Or worse,
Eternally fall through an empty cold,
Frozen forever,
And forever unfixed in space
And time.
Would you find the edge of the world,
If it meant you must step forward,
To be carried forth in existence,
Forsaking your time here,
To grasp for the ethereal,
Or to understand terrible truth,
Or worse,
Understand nothing,
And simply forever fall.
Could you find the edge of the world,
If the path were plain before you,
Some step onward,
Carried forth through time,
Or beyond such contrivance,
To become ethereal,
Understanding things of terrible meaning,
Falling beyond space and endings,
Forsaking what came before,
As if that once had substance,
Or meant anything.
Where is found the edge of the world,
Will you step forward,
Toward a path not yet seen,
But laid before you:
Inexorable,
Inevitable,
In this existence,
Until it is your time.
Then you will fall,
Though into what is yet hidden,
Perhaps full of the terrible,
Perhaps beyond time,
Perhaps of ethereal meaning,
A well of unknown depth,
That you may fall into forever…
When you come to the edge of this world,
You will be urged forward,
For we must all move beyond this space,
In time.
Is that the end?
Is that the terrible truth?
Or is there more meaning?
Existence is ethereal,
And we all fall through it,
All the time.

Cliff Lake 7/20/2025
Copyright © Clifford Lake 2025