ICARUS Redeemed

by jack mothershed



airborne
ICARUS
reaching
upward
not for the sun
just cloud base
rising on
giant hot hollow thermal clear straws
of air
hunting now for
that one straw
that one hollow
weed not in the wind
weed that is indeed wind
hunting for
that one vibrant
hot air jet
with a yen to race
to cloud base

so many of no girth
too many too short
so few to find so soon
else be pulled to earth

few see
the red tailed hawk
on the wing
from above
fanned tail
chestnut-red maybe
salmon probably
a long way from wing to water
bird to fish
cerulean sky to
primordial sea
if the red tailed were the
end of evolution
that would be enough
someday wing flapping may be
an option for humans
right now finding a thermal
is required
the red tailed hawk below
has found a thermal
he is spiraling upward
rapidly so it is a strong thermal
but his circles are pretty tight
too tight for a paraglider

a thermal elevator to cloud base
twenty five feet per second
fifteen hundred feet per minute
it could be in the odor of composted leaves
heated in the hollow of a humid nook
until that nook becomes
a big tea kettle
with an almost silent whistle

it could be coming out of that rocky couloir
each rock gladly giving its heat
to the more and more rapidly rising air
rocks are not altruistic no hah hah
they like to be warm yes hah hah
but even rocks understand the notion
of a point of diminishing returns
one hundred fifty degrees F is enough
give that heat to that rising air
thanks says the rock
thanks says the rising air
thanks says the rock above it
and the one above that
and the next
the next
a hundred feet
hundreds of feet
thanks says the rising air
becoming an entity now
growing
like a snowball in reverse
temperature and direction
riding
this rocky crease in this
mountain cheek
becoming a locomotive
of speed and diameter
all the hot air cars singing
we will we will rock you
going up?

whap!
got it
jumbo jolted by a
twenty mile per hour pillow train
world's fastest runner could catch it
if it were horizontal

whudududududup!
the canopy above collapses in shock
i am twirling
countering the twirling
stabilizing the canopy
banking
butt slung toward thermal wall
finding the optimal
centrifugal force
fugueing spiralling
paraphrashing jerry garcia
riding that train high and no pain
eureka!
going to the top
with a pounding heart
feathers ruffled but intact
no myth no magic
ICARUS
acronym not anachronism
I Can Ascend Reaching Upward Skillfully
ICARUS redeemed
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