Hum
it's the
sonic
rumble
overhead juxtaposition
Inside life is a
quiet netherworld of
watches, cameras and magazines on display
A collage of imagery from the world at large
compacted into pages of gloss and newsprint
Shrines of pop culture and news for our temple of TRAVEL
Brightly lit displays of shadows cast upon shiny floors
Voices real and imagined hang overhead
like the monitors which digitally display our imminent departure
Stillness is a fleeting glimpse of tranquility
Streamlined moment away from conveyor belts, customs, carts, ticket counters and immigration control
Baggage checked
Weight now lifted by
other arms freeing me to write,
as I sip a latte and stare
at the clear walls of
air and sky with whom I'll soon become
one
14 comments:
Hello,
A man of many talents you are. Congratulations!
I love to read but, somehow, I've never got into poetry, as much as I try to!
Well done, another nice and original post.
Nice poetry indeed, but there's more to airports than what is perceived by passengers.
I spend 1/3 of my life on an airport because I'm on the airline business. I'm an aircraft engineer and while passengers are relaxing and strolling from shop to shop or, as you said, sipping some sort of drink there are many professionals doing their best to keep aircraft on time.
Many times, I find myself running against the clock to get my aircraft ready for departure when I have just 40 minutes turn-around time. Sometimes I have to ground the aircraft for safety reasons but unfortunately most passengers get upset by that. Truth be told they should be glad, for my decision, for not putting their lives at stake.
Working on an airport is one of the busiest jobs you can have. I love my job!!!
I just hope you enjoy flying just as much as I love taking care of the aircraft and getting it ready for flight.
Thanks for the nice words.
Claudia, I have much appreciation for those like yourself who help keep the airport running. I know there is a lot of intensity that goes on and we feel it too. But there are those rare moments where you're just floating between destinations and free of baggage (mental and carry on). These words were just capturing that moment, not the entire airport experience.
By the way, to properly read this poem, please be sure to click on the photograph and look closely.
I remembered a few years ago, to work in the offices we need doing a course (typing), to learn to do the calculate to separate the words in documents ... I hated this calculate !!!!
Interesting choice of words to do the exact design of the plane, I realized that you are meticulous in what you do: to repair the space between the words "stillness is a" and "fleeting" making the lower wing.
;)
hum....
N.Guerreiro
Portugal
Then,
Outside,
young, safe,
in a metal box of chrome and wheels,
sitting beside parents,
waiting,
for take off,
big winged tube of
steel,
overhead it booms,
LOUD,
future thoughts,
possibilites,
adventure,
Where's it going?
What for?
Whose on board?
What do birds think?
Now,
Inside,
older, safe,
with strangers,
looking down, around,
smiles, frowns,
smells and noises,
cramped,
out the window I look
for
back when.
You have an interesting take on your life, you have such an open mind. I never hear, fear or power or fame...What is this life you have so completely free and overflowing with good thoughts of things?; if you were a candy bar I would buy one every day and feel empowered. What would you call yourself? I have no idea, but speculate-- a guess-- its a cross between a cookie-twix, and a Luna bar just enough to share. Have a great week--Thanks for enriching my peace of mind.
VERY cool, Alex! Your shape poem was great. I'm an elementary school teacher and I frequently talk about how an author or an illustrator chooses to use their words visually as well as mentally. I'm sure it took much manipulating to get the desired work accomplished. Musician, author, poet, graphic artist, WHAT NEXT!
Shiny floors? I know you were not at Laguardia when you wrote that. Well, maybe you were. You probably had time to write that poem becuase your flight was delayed for at least two hours. Happy flying!
Mike \m/
Excellent...you are an exceptional artist Alex, in many different ways as well. Turning your poetry into a picture was also creative and adds to the meaning. Keep up the great work.
*Belinda
Words invoking a vision. A vision invoking words.
Mmmm…I like it!
Not to sound like a sycophant, however I have to say it again. You continue to amaze me. I love it when you look at the world, tilt your head to side and see it from another perspective. Keep shifting the paradigm. Who knows what you will find.
You’re a Vesuvius of dreams and ideas. From where does this perpetual eruption of creativity flow? If from the soul of the Skol, then truly there are greater depth to be explored and far more to be released.
Can't wait until you share your next discovery!
Continuing to keep the promise. : - )
I appreciate the positive thoughts on the poetry. It's truly something I never imagined doing.
These first few lines just looked like the tail of a jet, so I figured I'd go for it and try the whole plane (I was on my second cup of coffee). I confess to seeing a poem in a shape once, so I didn't invent the concept. But I forget what that poem was about. It certainly wasn't about planes or airports.
One thing that has helped me create poems recently is not setting out to write them, but recognizing them in my own writing. Sometimes you can take your own words and re-space them into a poem.
For example, Liz D's 'candy bar' analogy: "If you were a candy bar I would buy one every day." That's poetic (and very nice thank u). The whole paragraph from there forms a poem.
BTW, to answer the question, I think I'd be an energy bar, but one with gourmet dark chocolate. :)
While I might be taking us all on the rabbit trail, musical nutrition is good for the heart, and just like sweet-poetry.It must have been the Beatles influences on me; I would testify that most of their music is poetry, and strawberry fields strange.
Musicaly inclined people have the gift of poetry, and food for thought, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, or you Mr.Skolnick even in another language writtan as musical score, in notes, called jazz, rock, fusion, classical...Where would we be without music?
"One good concert can change the world"--School of Rock ;P
LUNA BARS ROCK!
Agree with you Liz -Don't get much better than the poetics of Bob Dylan or The Beatles !!!!!!!Nice Poem Alex. I think the creative process is different for everyone in whatever genre. A recent article I read quoted the NY based artist, Chuck Close; "If you impose a limit to not do something you've done before, it will push you to where you've never gone before. And, he likens his painting process to golf. "Golf is the only sport in which you move from the general to the specific in a discrete series of moves. The first stroke is a leap of faith. The second corrects that. You end up on the green and end up putting into a 3.5 inch circle, which you couldn't see from the tee"
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