Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Gliding

At Sibbertoft, near Husbands Bosworth, Leics.

My second time,  pulled up from a winch to 1600 feet in a few seconds.  The crack of the cable releasing. The glider flattens, and you grab back your stomach to watch the scenery around and below.
Views as far as the Malverns, Bradgate Park and Corby.
Coming in to land

Glider down below


...and a poem from prompts (19.6.2011)

by any reckoning
this was no weather to fly
cross-winds meant danger
to an unpowered machine

wait a week, they said
so we did

by their reckoning
it was fair weather to fly
the wind was head on
giving lift to glide

come along this evening, they said
so we did

strapped inside
glider wired to the winch
stretched, tense, taut
the machine moved
faster
up
steeply

stomach?

a thousand
fifteen hundred
feet

bang
the wire drops off

we float on air
no noise but wind

below us
a tapestry
stitched with silks
and woolen thread
the earth

the wings tilt to turn
nose down
or up
and round
ready to land
with a bump

so short
and now
it’s time to sing in doorways

and wait for the next time.

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