Learning To Fly

Into the distance, a ribbon of black

Stretched to the point of no turning back

A flight of fancy on a windswept field

Standing alone my senses reeled

A fatal attraction holding me fast

How can I escape this irresistible grasp?



Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies

Tongue-tied and twisted

Just an earth-bound misfit, I



Ice is forming on the tips of my wings

Unheeded warnings, I thought I thought of everything

No navigator to find my way home

Unladened, empty and turned to stone



A soul in tension that's learning to fly

Condition grounded but determined to try



Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies

Tongue-tied and twisted

Just an earth-bound misfit, I



Friction lock, set

Mixture, rich

Propellers, fully forward

Flaps, set, 10 degrees

Engine gauges and suction, check



Mixture set to maximum percent, recheck

Altimeters, check both

Navigation lights, on

Strobes, on



Confirm 3-8-Echo ready for departure

Hello again, this is now 129.4

129.4. It's to go.

You may commence your takeoff, winds over 10 knots

3-8-Echo

Easy on the brakes

Take it easy

It's gonna roll this time

Just hand the power gradually, and it...



Above the planet on a wing and a prayer

My grubby halo, a vapor trail in the empty air

Across the clouds I see my shadow fly

Out of the corner of my watering eye

A dream unthreatened by the morning light

Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night



There's no sensation to compare with this

Suspended animation, a state of bliss



Can't keep my mind from the circling skies

Tongue-tied and twisted

Just an earth-bound misfit, I