Billowing

Weightless

this tube of metal

floats upward

through turquoise skylight.

The passengers inside

prepare for the haul,

some sleep,

some read,

some watch the clouds

in their picturesque parade.

 Soon enough,

the first food

will arrive

with the smile of a steward.

Outside the coast

begins to shrink,

the ocean taking up

more and more

of the circular picture,

its waves invisible,

its blueness vast.

The land disappears

from gaze,

and soon there is

only the two great blues

and this lonesome tube of metal.

The hours roll by,

music is played,

movies begin and end,

food is served,

naps are conducted,

cross puzzles solved.

Just when it seems

the journey will never end,

a destination 

comes vaguely into view,

a new shore,

welcomed with both apprehension

and the gladness of homesickness relieved. 

Wall of mountains

arising from the deep,

in a place once unexpected.

The sun shines on jubilant snow,

while the lowlands boil in summer heat.

"Ladies and gentlemen"

the pilot begins to say,

enthralled by the happy success 

of another delivery.