Learning to Fly

Into the distance, a ribbon of black

Stretched to the point of no turning back

A flight of fancy on a wind swept field

Standing alone my senses reeled

A fatal attraction is holding me fast

How can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Can't keep my eyes from the circling sky

Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I

Ice is forming on the tips of my wings

Unheeded warnings, I thought I thought of everything

No navigator to find my way home

Unladened, empty and turned to stone

A soul in tension that's learning to fly

Condition grounded but determined to try

Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies

Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I

Friction lock, set

Mixtures, rich

Propellers, fully forward

Flaps, set - 10 degrees

Engine gauges and suction, check

Above the planet on a wing and a prayer

My grubby halo, a vapor trail in the empty air

Across the clouds I see my shadow fly

Out of the corner of my watering eye

A dream unthreatened by the morning light

Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night

There's no sensation to compare with this

Suspended animation, a state of bliss

Can't keep my mind from the circling sky

Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earth-bound misfit, I