Monday, November 15, 2010

Wingtip


In my mind's eye, I see you.
Your head in your hands,
sandwiched between a salesman
and a movie producer.
You are 35 and this is your first time.
What should have been a
great adventure is instead,
a heartache,
a grieving repeated.
A shot of five dollar whiskey
to calm your shaking hands,
the sound of your father's voice,
then the lift...

up

stomach dropping,
ears popping,
and your heart,
stopping.
You can hear him clearly now,
Real men don't fly...
This is not our way, you think.
Better to be behind the wheel,
on the blacktop, window cracked,
your cigarette glowing amber,
and Axle Rose singing about Patience.
You hear his voice again,
your father's, and you start
to strap yourself in,
batten down,
man up.
You start to anyway, until,
you glance out the window,
as the plane breaks through the
storm clouds, into the light,
and you forget.
You lose yourself in a halo of color,
beneath the wingtip of the plane.
It's ghostly, ethereal,
but still you snap a picture with
your fancy phone, hoping to catch it,
and send it to me,
miles away.
Do you see it?
I do.

This is for One Shot Wednesday. A weekly communal writing event. Go, read, enjoy.

9 comments:

Sheri said...

oh, girl...this was awesome!! i could actually 'feel' every line...wondering if this is your beloved?? now it's YOUR turn to give up the 'rest of the story', eh??
much love, dear friend :)

Anonymous said...

Well written poem. Carried a great metaphor straight through to the end.

moondustwriter said...

you see it because of love and concern

A great view into the life of another

thanks for sharing with One Shot

moon Smiles

Gigi Ann said...

You drew me right in to the end. Nice..

Claudia said...

this was an awesome write..great metaphor allowed us a deep glance into his soul...and real men do fly..right?

Bubba said...

I like the way you covered all the subtle indignities about flying, then ended with a gentle grace-note. Nice One Shot, Melinda!

Shashidhar Sharma said...

Dear Melinda
Its so beautiful and full of feel. Thanks for sharing... I liked it very much..


ॐ नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya
Twitter: @VerseEveryDay
Blog: http://shadowdancingwithmind.blogspot.com

Reflections said...

Well written poem, could feel and tug on this, but oh the beauty of that sky.

Helena Malheur said...

very nice flow -- an enjoyable read.