A Glitch in Gravity

It begins when the prickly grass pokes through my socks

I run across the patch of yard to the ladder that leads me to space.

As I climb, I laugh. Becuase I know when I go through this portal, I am light.

My sister climbed in first so I hear the rhythmic crunch of the springs as she takes her first jumps.

By the last step, I’m already laughing.

I throw myself in.

Gravity catches me.

Then lets go.

I wonder what’s possible in here?

When my sister runs, I ran faster.

When she jumps, I fall harder.

When a beautiful bird passes over, we stop and admire the heavens.

It reminds me of before I was here and I saw nothing, but felt everything.

Before faces.

Before names.

Before I knew my mother’s eyes.

Hearing her voice before I ever saw her.

Feeling her move through the world while I waited.

And now, my sister is here too,

Laughing beside me.

Eventually it’s time to climb down.

The grass pokes my socks again.

the air no longer holding me,

But I leave lighter than I arrived.

Like carrying a bit of the sky home with me.

Alexis Rodriguez
Written Nov. 17 2025