Skybound, I Fly
By John Herlihy

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.