Before I could remember how to walk ⁣⁣
I always dreamt of flying ⁣⁣
The way Da Vinci dreamt it ⁣⁣
The way Icarus didn’t survive it⁣⁣
The way two brothers in Ohio said⁣⁣
‘If birds can glide for long periods of time, then⁣⁣
… why can’t I?’⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Waiting at the airport in my home⁣⁣
I see a pigeon between the ⁣⁣
legs of drowsy passengers⁣⁣
not flying, but walking ⁣⁣
without hurry, with purpose⁣⁣
towards something humans cannot see⁣⁣
⁣⁣
I lean in closer to inspect ⁣⁣
and it jumps away from me⁣⁣
I follow it slowly⁣⁣
An airport is a portal of sorts⁣⁣
where humans gather ⁣⁣
and become aware of time⁣⁣
where they become present in waiting⁣⁣
so we can leapfrog it in the air⁣⁣
And here was a species meant to fly⁣⁣
that instead preferred to walk⁣⁣
⁣⁣
It reached a point and stopped ⁣⁣
looked at me, and it felt like it spoke ⁣⁣
‘𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴t 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 ⁣⁣
𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵⁣⁣
𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭⁣⁣
𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥, ⁣⁣
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥’⁣⁣
⁣⁣
And then I watch it disappear⁣⁣
between the luggage that ⁣⁣
carries a child on a joyride⁣⁣
and a man frantically ⁣⁣
checking his boarding pass⁣⁣
It was almost like the bird ⁣⁣
was answering back to the⁣⁣
inventors of flight ⁣⁣
‘If humans can walk for long periods of time, then⁣⁣
…why can’t I?’

NaPoWriMo Day 13 – To get started with today’s prompt, first read Walter de la Mare’s poem “A Song of Enchantment.” Then, John Berryman’s poem “Footing Our Cabin’s Lawn, Before the Wood.” Both poems work very differently, yet leave you with a sense of the near-fantastical possibilities of the landscapes they describe. Try your hand today at writing your own poem about a remembered, cherished landscape. It could be your grandmother’s backyard, your schoolyard basketball court, or a tiny strip of woods near the railroad tracks. At some point in the poem, include language or phrasing that would be unusual in normal, spoken speech – like a rhyme, or syntax that feels old-fashioned or high-toned.