On the bus, on the plane,
a child kicks the seat,
Loudly sings a half-song
on repeat.

Watch the adults wince,
the parents hiss under their breath,
their patience thinned to wire.

They stare harder at their safety cards,
at crossword clues,
at the blue glow of movies
they won’t remember.

This is the invitation-
Not the kind printed on cardstock,
but the kind that comes with grape jelly fingerprints,
with questions about the clouds,
with shoelaces that won’t stay tied.

Tell me more about that dragon.
That’s not a shadow, it’s a mountain.
What would you name the ocean
if “ocean” was taken?

When they cry,
que the jokes,
make a peanut packet talk-
and the aisle is lighter for it.

How could this not be better
than folding yourself into a seat,
guarding your stiff silence?

Soon they’re gone,
dragging backpacks like spare limbs,
wet-cheeked or grinning.

I sit in the quiet,
watching the passengers
already back to their closed faces.
The question stays:
how could that human response
not be better
when the world hands us
small, loud,
unrepeatable gifts-
and we hand them back unopened?

A journey from a city to a small town,
And I thought... I would go down,
(I was nervous, not too many adventurous  bones,
Not everyone, after all, is Indiana Jones..)
A rickety-rackety propeller plane ride,
Tossed and hurled me from side to side.

Amidst jets that sniggered and scoffed,
The propeller plane, nonchalantly, took off.
The gall of the small contraption,
Of their majestic magnitude, just a fraction.
A take off with a war  cry,
A noisy leap  into the sky.
And though perhaps lagging in the race,
He chugged at his own pace…
He rocked and he plunged,
He plunged and he lunged,
He  shuddered and he swayed…
Rather unsteady all the way.
Bullied oft, by  clouds of turbulence,
That looked menacingly dark and intense.
But all the while, in tune,  in sync,
With the wind beneath his wings...
And though I thought he would nose dive,
We landed and we arrived!

Interesting it was to see him share space,
In the hangar, in the sky, while defining his own place.

Happy Birthday to me.
I brought myself to completion
In the dark of this great soaring ****
Silently I made love to myself
Someone sleeps beside me

In the aisle someone feels
My passion growing and coming
His legs shake as mine quake and quiver
The smell of my love on my fingers
musky, primordial, satifying.

born of insects and grass
in deep hue -- as purple as the gin blossom
climbing for new altitudes
the wall breaks inside of me
I fall through the forest floor
and into the ocean of sky
all the places I go are in freefall
but there's a reappearing rhythm

heart is a drum
heart is a drum
and it will join the dots of
a prayer remembered
(the fierce words of a holy sonnet)
consoling me in its shadow
when the turbulent, inverted plane
could no longer hold itself together

A flight delayed
Can take a toll
Schedules remade
Like dominoes fall
Yet plan A
Can be overrated
Trust that plan B
Is what we truly needed.

Fasten seat belt while seated.
Life vest under your seat
Put your mask properly fitted
Take off only when you drink or eat

Oxygen masks drop
In case of emergency
Put your vest on
But inflation-free.

Be mindful of the exits
Which could be behind you.
Enjoy the flight.
Just safety reminders for you.

To ride a plane
Is to let go.
Entrust and rely
On the pilot’s hands
Pray he be guided
By the Mighty One
Boarding this vessel
With several other humans
Who likewise let go
Of control from their hands
Trust and faith
Are what we need
In moments like this
We relax and yield.