Deflation

I began by floating
above the dull earth, but
soon found that my ascent
was moving in the opposite
direction.  a few words later,
an insult here or there,
placed like a hidden blade,
and I was finding my way
quickly to the terrestrial
realm from which I rose.
the neighbors were the same,
and their cooking smelled
somehow worse.
their children still crowded
the streets like homeless
wanderers.
now I am merely a heap,
a might-have-been soon
to become a must-have-been
and then a who-was-that.

-- JD DeHart