Away

by Michael Dylan Welch

First published in Lights #1, April 2020, from Pleasure Boat Studio, page 97. Originally written on 6 August 2019, in the air between Chicago, Illinois and Greensboro, North Carolina. See also “Night Flight.”       +

eastward-bound—

a gibbous moon

reflecting on the wing

lights of an unknown town

through a break in the clouds

the sun’s last rays

catching the fuselage

of a jet above us

distant thunderhead

glowing for a moment

with lightning

rumours back home tonight

of the aurora borealis

sudden turbulence . . .

in the dark

I whisper your name