filled with such panic
i heard a woman jumped
from the john hancock building,
fifty-something floors.
i work on the thirty-
second floor of the civic
opera building, it’s older
than the john hancock, and
we have regular windows
there. you see, the john hancock
has bullet-proof windows
that don’t just open up,
whereas we have windows
that just slide up and down,
like the ones you have in
your own home. sometimes
i open the window, stick my
head out and look at the
street. the wind is so strong
when you’re up that high.
sometimes we spit out the
window. a few times we
threw a paper airplane out the
window, watched it soar
down wacker drive. i never
stick my head out past my
shoulders, and i’m one of the
more adventurous ones at
my office. i can’t imagine
looking out the window,
then going out past the
shoulders, opening that
window all the way, and
just going out. i’d be filled
with such panic. i did the
wrong thing, i’d think, then
i’d struggle to find a ledge
to cling to right before i’d
start to fall.
Copyright Janet Kuypers.
All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.
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