I have a slight obsession with flying. When I read through my journal and thumb through my sketchbook the theme that soars (sorry…) out is flight. Over and over my poems and sketches revolve around flying, hovering, gliding. I wonder what that says? Am I looking to escape? To get above it all for a better perspective? Do I just want to see all of you as bugs? I’ll leave that for my therapist.
For this week’s Poetry Friday I’m letting two flight themed poems take wing. Rest assured, there will likely be many more.
Incensed
by Jim Hill
I think I smell a bumble bee.
I’m sure I hear a flower.
The color red tastes so sweet.
Is this my super-power?
I thought I’d be invisible,
Or maybe super-strong,
I thought I’d fight the evil folk,
And right the very wrong.
Now with senses so mixed up,
I can’t tell buzz from brown,
If I fly up, up away
I might come crashing down.
Seeing songs is cool, I guess,
And rainbows are so soft,
but deep inside my heart of hearts
I wish to stay aloft.
Little Bird
by Jim Hill
Little bird
Flying waist high,
Then knee high,
Waist high,
Then knee high.
Is it hard to fly?
Staying aloft?
Defying the earth?
Do you love
Daring gravity’s kiss?
The feel of falling?
The teasing moment
Between flight and fail?
Your little wings
Beat the air
Pushing you
Up, up and away.
Muscle and reflex
In perfect time.
A darting rhythm,
Tension, release,
Tension, release.
Tension.
Release.
Good-bye.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I do so enjoy your writing, thanks for sharing!
My last post was Tolkien-themed.
http://www.aworkinprogress.net/2012/01/i-wonder-what-sort-of-tale-weve-fallen.html
Thanks, Liz! I’ve got to pop over and read your Tolkien-themed post. I’m sure to enjoy it.
Incensed inspired by the wee one? I seem to remember something about smelling a bumblebee. He’s amazing, that poem is STELLAR.
You nailed it, smarty-pants. I need to record everything he says now so that I can have a writing career. Or acquire a new 3-year old every few years. Hmmmm, wheels turning…
They are wonderful, Jim!
Thanks, Catherine! Are you doing #MoP?
i am always astounded that bumble bees can manage flight, and that they can live underground. they seem like a combination of a friendly dinosaur and an insect’s idea of a blimp design.
nice work.
Maybe you are enamored with flight because it’s a metaphor for life: “Tension, release/tension, release.”
Well done, Jim. I really like how you’ve maximised tension/release at the end with repetition and spacing.