Going Away

First published in Raining Rengay #4, October 2024. Originally written on 27 June 2024 in the air between Seattle and Cincinnati, Alaska flight 508, seat 28F. See also “Night Flight” and “Away.”

by Michael Dylan Welch

fogged in—

the flight delayed

for lost school kids

     popping up

     into blue

old snow—

Mt. Rainier

piercing the clouds

     a Montana thunderhead

     changes our flight path

ginger ale on ice—

wildfire smoke

streaking the prairie

     final approach

     in fog again