the footing was more
unsteady at the top
than Sisyphus imagined
he always thought
it would feel lighter
than the rock
he had pushed
uphill all those years
but that labor
was familiar and
this new heaviness
hung on his heart
as an ache
standing still beside
his rock—a distance
growing between them
Sisyphus cried out
‘what happens now?’
no one answered
it had always been
just him, and his rock
and gravity bearing down
years of pushing
meant he never
had to learn how
to reach toward
or hold on
he only knew gravity
as a pressing force
a constant need
and now was jolted
as the rock
was drawn away
he began to cry
he knew how to
bear the weight
of the burden
but not how
to let it go.
© 2024 Gretchen L Schmelzer, PhD