what this nerd dreads

it’s
terrifying to walk on the deep earth –
nearly 13,000 clicks down before space again,
for example, here
on the docks in nipaluna, lutruwita,
three metres above the estuary,
as the tide turns
I sit in this bar with you (plus
a bunch of other apps), I’m wearing
my T with the e on the back, running shorts and
sneakers, their soles irritatingly
squeaking
on the tiled floor
underneath which is
a concrete slab
then rock
let’s see, ah,
(the unlocked drop)
12,736 kilometres
and, uh, 556 metres,
(down through hot rock hell)
then up through the relatively shallow seas in the Azores to
the fresh Atlantic air
up to the ionosphere, etc. then
(this is what really disturbs me…)
space again
(I prefer the atmospheric pressure at sea level though it’s hard enough to tolerate its
101 kPa on my skin and the
transient increase and decrease in pressure in my lungs as I breathe
– I usually notice it,
especially when running – I find it hard to stop), oh, yeah,
the space that’s acceleratingly-being-stretched
deeper and deeper
forever-n…
perhaps I prefer the sea
where I can breathe out and sink
slowly to the bottom
before the rock begins again
hmm… let’s say
I’m impressionable