TAKE OFF by Cesar Polvorosa, Jr.

Great bird of steel

Emitting sound of rolling thunder

Pauses at the tarmac

Gathering strength,

Its innards screaming

In tumultuous crescendo.

Almost hypnotically

It starts to move,

Slowly, ever so slowly at first,

Silvery plumage glistening

In the shimmering mid morning heat.

Wingtip to wingtip

the perfection of geometry.

It lumbers on the runway

Seemingly ungainly,

As though forever earthbound.

But now impatiently, it picks up speed.

With a sudden urgent shudder

And sheer metallic roar,

Its sleek form zooms through the runway

Until, until with majestic flash

It rises through the air

To merge with sky and clouds

Like a soul fleeing the corrupting clutches

Of the earth.

The engine's heat wave

Blurs the vision

But the mind's eye relives them all:

Those first awkward steps,

In every stride the gathering power.

Finally, the blinding glory of the take off.

I watch the plane fast disappearing

Into the heavens.

I watch it fly

To some unknown destination

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