Poetry May 1979 Atlantic

by Howard Nemerov

The Little Aircraft

Article Tools

email E-mail Article
print Printer Format

The little aircraft trudging through night, cloud, rain,
Is neither alone nor lost amid the great
Inverted ocean of the air, for a lane
Invisible gives it intelligence,
The crossing needles keep its heading right,
The neutrally numbering voices of its friends
Make of its blindness blind obedience,
From one to another handing its destiny on
The stages of the way with course and height
Till finally it's funneled in and down
Over the beacons along the narrowing beam,
Perfectly trusting a wisdom not its own,
That breaking out of cloud it may be come
Back to this world and be born again,
Into the valley of the flarepath, fallen home.

Article Tools

E-mail Article
Printer Format

Subscribe to our e-mail newsletter.

 

Also By

Howard Nemerov

September 1967

Rope's End

May 1967

Projection

September 1955

The Old Soldiers' Home


Name

Address 1

Address 2

City

State Zip

Email

Atlantic Voices

Sarkozy Isn't Alone Read more

02 December 2008 10:20 A.M.

A Hamiltonian By Any Name ... Read more

02 December 2008 10:49 A.M.

Jindalmania Read more

02 December 2008 09:31 A.M.

Clinton's Foreign Policy Cabinet: Where Will They Go? Read more

01 December 2008 5:30 P.M.

From Paul Dunbar to MF Doom Read more

02 December 2008 10:08 A.M.

For a change, some positive air-taxi news Read more

02 December 2008 07:36 A.M.

Those Self-Defeating Hamas Flacks Read more

02 December 2008 12:22 A.M.

Bernanke and the risk of deflation Read more

01 December 2008 1:06 P.M.

Word Court in session: "try and ..." Read more

01 December 2008 10:16 A.M.