the airplanes appear
motionless
noses pointed up
metal humpback whales
sleeping in a pod
heads raised to the sun
hanging in the darkness
so close yet
so fucking far away

the hawks circle
the only movement
i can detect
as i sit mumbling
tasting the words
to see if they have
poetry in their souls

imagining giant hands
reaching through
the wispy white clouds
to snatch the airplanes
from this endlessness
of moving forward
yet going nowhere
at the speed of thought
thinking about whales
turning off the flow
of oxygenated blood
as they steal scant moments
of rest in a state
of constant anxiety