there is always doubt

if you are afraid
of getting tired
never again
begin a journey
never run
bolting till tears
stream backwards
across your cheeks
crying out for you
to turn back
never dance a silly jig
in front of friends
stricken by anxiety
that all this is momentary
that this risk is foolish
without purpose
but
if instead you look forward
to the heady rush
when the land tips forward
so steep you can’t see the bottom
the thought of falling
makes you giggle and squeal
and then beyond that
way out ahead
there is a plain
and you imagine yourself
walking
going onwards
with all that momentum
even though you don’t know
where all this will end

if that’s the case
well
away you go