The Angels up at Thirty Thousand Feet

A Non-Syncopated Sonnet

 

Night Flight

 

Oh gosh, I’ve just noticed it’s National Poetry Day, so I’d better post something. I gather the theme is Stars, which isn’t quite the topic here, but I’m not far off. It’s about the sky and various items – animate and inanimate – to be encountered there.

 

The situation is we were flying out to Tenerife (um, when was it? er, Tuesday last week, the 25^th September). Anyway, it was a night flight, and there wasn’t a lot visible from the window, so the choice was to watch the film (Men In Black 3), read (getting tired) or write something.

 

I wrote.

 

                    Flight TCX2314 

The angels up at thirty thousand feet

            Have sometimes noticed humans passing by

            In metal tubes that cruise along the sky,

And wondered if perhaps they ought to greet

Those bored distracted people as a treat

            And help them prize each moment spent on high,

            Perhaps approach each window with an eye

To wink and smile and share out bliss complete.

 

            But when one time they came along and beamed,

Each human gave at first a frozen smirk

            Then all together up they leapt and screamed

Which gave the aircraft such a solid jerk

            The angels fled, concluding that it seemed

Perhaps assisting humans doesn’t work.

25^th Sept 2012

 

 Mechanic’s Corner: I decided not to syncopate the sonnet this time because it’s not an enthusiastic gusto-type poem. It’s more of a think-and-smile affair, so the standard iambic rhythm ought to fit better (di-dum di-dum di-dum).

 

By the way, the light show on the way back from Tenerife (late flight on Tuesday/ Wednesday 2^nd/3rd) was just brill. I snaffled the window seat as we were going up the Irish Sea so could see the lights of Ireland in the distance, with a mixture of moonlit waves and puffball clouds between, then the Welsh coast twinkled into view. But the best bit was over the Liverpool/Manchester conurbation – wow, what a myriad of multitudinous lights. Personally, if I were an angel I’d knock off my angeling work early and have a hover over the Lancashire illuminations. Just amazing!

 

*****

 

May I invite you to make certain purchases? (I may? Why, thank you...)

* 

(a) The Salamander Stone (by my most excellent and trusty pal, Mrs Me) from one of these outlets:

Direct from the publisher, Burst Books: click here

Amazon UK: click here

* 

(b) The Two Worlds of Wellesley Tudor Pole (by Mrs Me’s most excellent and trusty pal, Me):

Amazon UK: click here

Amazon.com (US): click here

 *

(You’ll be getting both of them? Well, that is an admirable choice, if I may say so...)

 

*****