The Pull of Gravity

As a younger man
And a dreamer
Before the world changed
I would go the airport
And sit at a random gate
To watch people scurry
For their flights
Talking hurriedly
Saying goodbyes
In anticipation of hellos.

Beyond the sheets

Of plate glass
Behemoths waited
Their wings wide
Ready for speed
And thin air.

I would sit and wonder

At the lives that would
Soon board
And the fragile tubes
That would carry them away
Imagining I were
Awaiting that flight
Inventing for myself
An alternate life
In San Francisco
Or even Toledo.

This I did for a few hours
Until the weight and
Pull of gravity
Returned me to Chicago
And its grim boulevards
And gritty alleyways
And a wife who saw
Everything

And wanted

Nothing
Especially from me.