What is the Edge? Part 1

A number of people have asked me what do I mean by the "Edge", in letters from the edge. First I am not talking about "The Edge", the guitarist from the band U2 ( of course that was obvious and you should have seen it coming). The edge is not a place where the majority of people live, it’s the out of the way, not mainstream. The edge is not for the faint of heart, the religious, the uptight, the easily offended or the fearful. It’s not for those trying to play it safe, those who are hedging their bets or those who have the next five years already planned out.

The dictionary defines edge as: first "thin, sharp cutting part of the blade", second, the edge is "the quality of being sharp-keen", third, "the projecting ledge of a cliff", fourth, "the part farthest from the middle", and fifth, "the verge or brink as of a condition". Some of this would apply to what I mean by the edge. I have always had a sharp cutting wit or sarcasm that has got me into a lot of trouble. I have always lived closer to the ledge of the cliff than on safer ground. I have always found myself involved with things that would be considered fringe by the majority, but I most identify with the edge meaning "the verge or brink as of a condition". There are some people who are always "on edge", which the dictionary defines as "so tense or nervous as to be easily upset, irritable or impatient", I am not talking about that. To me the edge is a place that always contains the possibility of danger or disaster. The edge is the place your mother always warned you about and told you not to get close to.

I remember an incident from my childhood (I was about 11 yrs. old), that happened at McKenney Elementary School, located at Pembroke and Burt Road in Detroit, Michigan (this is for those who might know the neighborhood). There was a ledge that was just below the 2^nd floor window that my friends and I would try to walk the length of the building on. On this particular day I had leaned my bicycle against the wall where the ledge was. As I was walking the ledge this day, I lost my balance and fell off, right were I had left my bike. Oh, I forgot to mention that my bike once had a light on it that was held in place by two metal prongs sticking straight up, yes, you guessed it the light was missing, but the metal prongs were still in place. When I fell those 2 metal prongs went right into my left buttocks (for correct pronunciation of this word think Forrest Gump), breaking my fall. Needless to say I was in a great deal of pain, but I couldn’t tell my parents because we were told not to walk that ledge. I went home and tried to bandage my wound with cotton pads and tape. I went to the dinner table and sat there trying to pretend everything was o.k. but I was bleeding and finally had to tell my dad the truth. I said Dad I have to talk to you. He went into the bathroom with me and I showed him the wound. He calmly came out and told my mom we have to go out for awhile I have to take Mark to the emergency room. My mom didn’t find out what happened until we got back. To be contuined.....