Poem: Notes On Flying

[note: I am not happy with the rhythm of the poem, much of the meter, the stanzafication, the lack of comedy and viable transitions, and the gestalt of the poem as a whole. I find the flight issue difficult to nail down--my irrational (?) fears are balanced against the cooly nuanced reassurances of my friends and family. If I liked to write short stories, I think a flying piece would be a good one. Anyhow, I decided to lob this over the fence and figure out where it ends up later...]

1. not flying can be worse than flying

The downside of flying is its antithesis: not flying.
And even not flying is fine,
As long as not flying is the initial state.
The trouble begins (and ends)
When you transition
From the flying state
To the not flying state.

2.
Flying is a side issue.

I fear the falling.

The more I see,
The more I see
There is to see.

3.
Falling per se is not a bad thing.
The problems arise when falling
Becomes not falling.

I read an article in which
A plane embedded in the ground
And scattered across the desert
Was called an uncontrolled landing.

4.
Flying is like toilet paper
Or transmission fluid
Or bubble wrap,
Or light bulbs:
Not something inherently pleasurable,
But, maybe, a necessary evil.

5.
Fear of flying
Is not rational--
Not even close:
Why don't I worry
When my wife or children fly?
The fear takes over
Only when my own carcass is on the line?

6. pharmacological aspects of flight

Vallium, oxycontin, zantax,
Codeine, or vicoden, beer at the airport
Bloody Marys on the plane.


7. landing

The instant the plane
Begins to descend,
My fear evaporates
In a bizarre reflexive action.

I love landing!
Even when the plane
Is just barely uner control.
Within a mile of the ground,
I rejoin the living.

8. why I don't like round trips

The angst sets in
At about t-minus ten days.

It slowly accumulates.
I mostly slough it off,
But the fear is always there,
Perched on my shoulder
Like a blackbird.

The trip itself is clouded
With the knowledge I will
March back up the dreaded ramp.

9.
The pleasure is destination;
The best part of flying
Is when you no longer are.

10. we weren't meant to do this

Flying is best left
To the ospreys, turkey vultures,
Daredevils, self-destructive,
And the fools and knuckeheads among us.

11. old school flight

For lift, you need feathers--
Not the landbound chicken's,
But an antique pterodactyl's
Or an Indian Roc's
With wings like mainsails
And miles to every wingbeat.

I'd feel safer if the wings
actually flapped.
I'd feel better hanging on the scruff
Of a large hawk's neck.

12. economics

When you hang on the sky
It is only a loan
Of altitude
With compounding odds
And a callable loan.
The interest is high.

13. the science of flying

Fly, but never believe
In flying.
Never trust gravity, lift,
Physics, stall speeds,
Thermals, trade winds
Or the deranged captain
Behind the reinforced door.

14. Boeing

I went to high school
With the guys who build these planes.
Literally.
Be scared.

15.
In flying, you can get stuck
In the middle
With no reserves
To get to either side.

In a car, you pull over
But you can't pull over halfway
Across the Pacific
Because those friendly islands--
Cyclades in the Aegean,
Sandwich Islands in the Pacific,
Channel Islands, Gulf Islands,
San Juan Islands, Catalina Island--
Just barely exist when you're Up There;
Insignificant dots and dashes
Scattered across the dark ocean.

16.
Silk is for retreat,
Drifting back to earth
In a swaying parachute.
I'd like to attach
A few hundred parachutes
To every plane.

17. it's almost like the hot squat

Belted in, my seat
Might as well be
The electric chair.

18.
The rings of the splash
Send dopplers
Into the void,
Widening and disappearing
In the cold and lonely sea.
---o0o---

jack brummet