Skybound, I Fly

By John Herlihy

(Friday 2/3/18)

I await the day I am earthbound no more,

My eyes heavenward with visions to implore.

In my dreams, in slumber, I learn to take flight,

In shadowed mystery, I disappear far from sight.

Only to appear once again as I begin to soar aloft,

The wind under my wings, I feel my feathers soft.

I turn, I look around, I wonder who I may consult;

Then I look downward as my heart begins to exult.

Small wonder the earth still lies in shadow of night;

The moon freely extends to earth its borrowed light.

At first, I have no idea when and where I might be

Time and space no longer matter, I could be a bee.

But I soar in silence without the characteristic buzz,

Content in the knowledge of who I am and once was.

Still waters below as I assume the majesty of flight.

The darkness envelopes me as I lift the veil of night.

The miracle enters my soul as sheer light of freedom;

I rise above, descend below, over the earthly kingdom.

The wind holds me aloft with the horizon in my sights;

My imagination takes hold, giving me celestial rights.

My heart feels restless as I soar above mountain peaks,

Like sleeping animals, they lay below amid quiet creeks.

Raging rivers surge forward as I fly beyond their reach,

Storm waves surge landward only to break on the beach.

I swoop down on villages and towns with church steeples,

Regions and countries at my command and their peoples.

If only I could fly forever, knowing it is not meant to be,

To preserve this sense of sublime grandeur, to be free.

As I alight gently back on the ground, I open my eyes,

Awakening once again to the world’s whispers and cries.