I sailed a rowboat to the edge of the world, where the atmosphere meets open space
Launched straight up, as the smoke unfurled, as the waves grew small and the clouds uncurled
I found myself in that place.

Then at the cusp where the sunlight streamed and the edge of the world goldenly gleamed 
and my breath was frozen in the still night air, 
I lifted my arms, tossed back my hair
And my boat tipped forward past invisible edges, like a thousand needles on a thousand ledges 
and I trimmed the air like I sculpted hedges

For a single moment I was one of the stars, and the sunlight pierced my eyes and my scars, 
and I caught my breath in the breathless void, and the sun slipped behind the edge, destroyed.

Then I shot towards the ground with incredible speed, as though I were riding a flaming steed, with the wind in my hair and my hair on fire and each muscle stretched and tuned as a wire, 
and I charged the earth as the earth stood still, racing the ice down an endless hill, 
and the coastline grew sharp and I thought I heard waves, 
and the dead raised their eyes from their ancient graves, 
as I roared and I sliced and I bled and I raved,
And i burst to the ground with my head unshaved

As I lay on the grass looking up at space
And the breeze brushed the years and the tears from my face 
I sank back deeply and felt each blade
Like a mammoth's fur, like the earth had frayed
And I heard an owl weeping in the night
And gravity held me and pressed me tight
I remembered and sung what I'd heard before
As I seeped down to sleep inside the core.

[Featured Image: High-altitude balloon by Noah Klugman; modified from source]