Fri., Mar. 6

Ripping up through clouds, sinking back below them
they look loose and disjointed from the ground
and we think of them as airy nothing -

an airplane knows better; the pilot,
the passengers, the airframe itself,
all groaning, some louder than others.

A thin layer of water vapor and mist
filled with picturesque whirls
is actually a zone of turbulence and change

where those passing through run a gaunlet
of slaps and blows and hammered harsh impacts
that don't quite stop your progress, but might.

"Be kind, for everyone is fighting a great battle."
An old saw, an aphorism well known,
little practiced. In a plane, tossed about, tilting,

when you look around at faces who might
be boxed and captioned next to yours in tomorrow's paper,
it becomes quite real, you can see and feel its truth.