when she was young   she wanted to fly 

like a bird

she watched sparrows across the street

dart from branch to branch

and back again

but everyone wants to fly

and no one does

but she did   

at first she merely rose off the ground

a matter of inches   

as she became adept she learned to rise   to hover

above the ground

she learned to lean into it   to arch her back just so

and rise further

it would be morning   it would be in her aloneness

or perhaps in the evening   

she nurtured her skill   and sang 

as she flew

it is one thing to rise

above the ground   another to fly among the clouds

she sang and she flew   flew without ambition

to touch the sun   

but ambition to be one with the ocean of air 

the currents 

soar

soar above the wine country   

she and the vultures

riding thermals above the golden hills

she and the cormorants far out to sea

she and the pelicans offshore

she and the gulls skimming water's edge 

she and the hawks

she and the eagles 

leaning into it just so   arching her back

rising until the city

was not a city but a speck   and the air was cold and thin   

and unsupportive

then

the soft descent   the downward drift  

the slow glide

her speed at her command   above the clouds 

through the clouds

below the clouds   the earth rising

arching again   settling lightly   

light as a feather

on terra firma