You have a curious way with flights

without fail 

a laptop is left behind at security

we are too late and 

the flight has to be rescheduled

or the time with the tornado

that made our detour trip impossible

and, somehow, always on the way

to visit your family?

 

I’m sorry,

you can put your earbuds back in now

I’ll stop reminding you…

Oh! And there was that one time

when we were almost sleepless

in the Seattle airport and

I was two seconds away from a meltdown

until a Buddhist monk floated by

 

and I felt everything go sideways

 

just for a second

 

as if his peace pulled it all back

 

darning the frayed edges

 

scattering the anxiety

 

and the frustration

 

replacing it with the joy of flight

 

the peace of weightlessness

 

suddenly

 

They announced your name

looked at each other wide-eyed

we ran down the concourse

at the gate, they let us board

 

And buckling our safety belts

I recall the dense grey clouds

 

by the time we reached altitude

 

there was 

 

nothing 

 

but 

 

blue