Conquering My Fear of Heights Don’t look down Don’t think about your sweaty hands slipping on the rungs of the ladder Just move one foot at a time Try not to shake Don’t listen to your heart beating like a crazed tennis ball And whatever you do don’t look down When you’re standing with both feet on the ground the water tower looks high When you have both feet on the rungs of a ladder going up you know that the water tower is really high At forty meters up in the air I feel small scared pathetic If I fall from this height will I bash my brains in I wonder what bashed-in brains lying on concrete look like Sam shouts up from below Hey Thomas Come on You’re as slow as a turtle Today is my twelfth birthday Because we wanted to have a bit of excitement on my birthday and because 7
the summer is already dragging in our sleepy Quebec town Sam and I decided to climb the water tower We’re going to take our pictures up there and post them on Facebook That’ll impress our soccer team After ten minutes of climbing I finally reach the top My muscles are starting to relax just a little My chest still feels tight but I’m also bursting with pride I’ve conquered my fear of heights I made it I take a quick glance down Sam who looks no bigger than an elf is taking pictures I give him a small wave I feel like I’m on top of the world 8
Five Pine-Green Candles At the bottom of my cupboard I’ve hidden an old shoe box under a pile of clothes I’ve outgrown There are five pine-green candles in it Over time they’ve lost a bit of their sheen Two of the five candles have traces of dried brown gravy on them Every so often I open the box and tell myself Her fingers touched these candles I know it’s stupid but it makes me feel closer to her If our house caught on fire those five pine-green candles are the first things I’d save 9
