This Side of Over There*

These hands have lifted mighty wings
Toward sun, and stars and moon
And this joy my heart has known
Is ending all too soon.
Cirrus clouds and thunderstorms
Ice crystals and vapor forms.

These eyes have watched receding earth
Blend with azure skies.
That I was given this rare gift
Was kingly enterprise.
Starlight teasers play
Where snowy canyons lay.

These fingers charted distant paths
Chasms of quiet space.
I’ve chased the sundown, watched sunrise
And amazing race.
Earth’s expansive girth belies
The depth, the breadth, the dream of skies.

These arms have measured spans of time
Embraced a Grande Design.
But, it has ended all too soon
Like contrails left behind.
I hadn’t watched the moments pass
And time has fled too fast.

These feet are hungry for tall air
For seven-mile heights.
To tread across a path of stars
In calm or stormy flights.
Like priests at evening prayer
The engines’ vesper air.

It’s my heart that yearns the most
For the clawing of the air.
And it will likely never rest
This side of over there.
Red-rimmed sunsets fire the night
With Dipper, Bow, and Northern Lights.

But there’s no need for tears of loss.
Please don’t weep for me.
I’ve heard the beat of angels’ wings
‘Cross diamond-studded seas.
And, oh! The miles I did roam
Over my blessed Terra home!


(* Written for Hank, my retiring United Airline Captain friend)