laughing (a wish) like a child

he heard the sound

a sound
that he could feel
almost
as a vibrant echo
drilling
inside himself

looking to the sky

tiny body

tiny wings

a tail
of trail
streaming
across the wide expanse
of the sky

not long to wait
another
passing across the sky
then
the sound

from the ground
hearing
feeling
seeing
the minute spectacle

the urgent yet
stately
spectacle
he formed a wish

~

a wish
may take many forms

a hill
become a mountain

a ladder
become a tower

he hilled
and
he laddered
without any spare thought
for foolishness
or
for failure

no thought either
of risk
or of danger

and he climbed
a steady rising
up a manageable gradient

up
and up

when at last
he stood
atop his ladder
become tallest tower
he saw
that it was time

he raised his arm

held his hand
as high
up
as he could

and felt the smooth glide
of a fuselage
brush his fingertips

and the fierce flutter
of sound that followed
go through him
into his belly

battering his ears

buffeting him
like tempest air

he laughed

laughed
as merry
as a child

~

A Book of Clouds