L’appel du vide at Eighty

That fancy name for the impulse to jump

from the top of the Empire State,

climb over the rail of the Golden Gate,

step off the Grand Canyon’s rim.

Experts consider this intrusive thought,

known as the “high place phenomenon,"

an alarm signal gone wrong–our brains 

saying,  Back up! Or you may fall.

At eighty, I stand on the edge of my life, 

the call of the void, a thunderclap.

I resist my urge to lean into the abyss,

but it's hard to deny my desire for a nap.