First Flights

{commemorating the Wright Brothers first flight,
December 17, 1903, Kitty Hawk, NC}

first flights, and were we made of clouds
that we could rise so easily from the cliffs
untarnished in our imaginations

or glide Da Vinci like with precision yet
without care and seek the Other Side
in faith stepping out onto a wire, unfinished stairs,

the wire of beauty stretched from star to star,
that delicate filament.
or we with kites of gold

and thoughts as bright
caught the winds and soared
all this was before

on Heavenly heights decreed
on the instant
God whispered let there be

birds and singing and let

music have wings
so that when the Shadow falls upon them
there will be visions gleaming

through the storm
and when they wake,
the endless skies.

mary angela douglas 17 december 2017; 24 june 2019

SECOND VERSION

FIRST FLIGHTS

{commemorating the Wright Brothers first flight,

December 17, 1903, Kitty Hawk, NC}

first flights, and were we made of clouds

that we could rise so easily from the cliffs

untarnished in our imaginations

or glide Da Vinci like with prescient precision yet

without care and seek the Other Side

in faith stepping out onto a landing of

unfinished stairs, a wire,

the wire of beauty stretched from star to star,

that delicate filament.

or we with kites of gold

and thoughts as bright

caught the winds and soared

all this was before

on Heavenly heights decreed

on the instant

God whispered let there be

birds and singing and let

music have wings

so that when the Shadow falls upon them

there will be visions gleaming

through the storm

and when they wake,

the endless chrism of the skies.

mary angela douglas 24 june 2019