I Take Flight

I take flight, soaring above clouds atmospheric and metaphorical both,
Above me only sky.

I drift and dream my way over cotton wool, over whipped cream, over white candy floss,

Over smokey haze upon which my sleep-blurred eyes scarcely focus.

Sculpted, heaped, wafted, haphazardly with intent, a nebulous paradox of seeming solidity.

And then, abruptly, the vapours meet their match, lapping at the peaks that rise disdainfully above them.

Here the powdered sugar dusting the crests does little to disguise the harsh lines of the rippled rock

And scorns to sully the softer contours of scooped-out valleys.

And then the vista is again obscured,
Mere glimpses snatched of pinnacle and hollow beneath the gloaming haze.

When once again my vision clears,
Scattered towns crust the undulating landscape

And sparkling ribbons thread through patchwork fields and rumpled hills.

Dark and brooding now as I dip lower towards the shadowed lands,
Bristling with angry evergreens, sliced through by sullen, leaden waters,
Dull cloudy opal which once was gleaming sapphire.

Gone the sun's cheer, and yet for me it shines and warms me still -
For what landing better?

I softly alight and come to rest in the arms of my love.

When next I fly, I will fly with you.

I Take Flight - or how a journey from the UK to Italy can inspire poetic jottings! This post was brought to you as part of Sian's Storytelling Sundays

And a quick reminder that if you like stories, you may be interested in the giveaway on this post, which closes later today :-)