Aloft

Whispers of a wind to lift you off the ground,
the breath of air that'll take you where it will,
this flight of fancy carries you until you know for sure
there's no going back
to where you were before,
now you've lost the knack.

With best-laid plans you once flattered to deceive,
of fatted calf were intent to eat your fill.
Perpetual motion carries you but still you know for sure
that you can't keep track
and you can't keep score
there's no going back any more.

You were tethered
eyes and ears peeled tightly on the ground,
wondering whether
what goes up is certain to come down...
steady measures,
learn to take the whole thing in the round.

Keep on talking,
for that's all that's keeping you aloft
it was awkward
holding in your breath before the off.
Now you travel, though you're not so eager to arrive.
On the journey what respect you earn is token,
faith in progress goes unspoken
and that's all that's keeping you alive.

And you know it's not the going, it's the getting there
that'll slow you, so you really can't remember where
you were heading when you started;
all was eloquence but now it's all hot air.

Draw breath in apprehension,
no safety features left in place,
your sentence in suspension.
you're clinging on, a basket case.
You didn't want to tell me
about your secret passion.
What dummy would you sell me
with such unfashionable haste?

Hold it steady,
can't afford to let direction drift.
Are you ready?
The denouement when it comes is swift.
Are you joking? Were you hoping for some jolly japes?
Eat those words or spit them out before they choke you.
Failing progress
from this moment
I don't see you making your escape.

And you know it's not the going, it's the getting there
that'll get you, that'll get you, no-one lets you
know you're slowly in the process of forgetting where
you were heading when you started.
All was eloquence
or was it all hot air?

So the pay-off's due,
now you've told your tale.
All the words you used
are exhaled.