Night Flight

by Michael Dylan Welch

First published in Frogpond 26:3, Fall 2003, page 43. Written 18 April 2000 while flying from St. Louis, Missouri to San Francisco, California. See also “Away” and “Going Away.”

full moon—

along the runway

blue lights begin to blur

turning after takeoff

the moon disappears under the wing

for a moment below

in the Mississippi,

a white oval

the seat-belt sign

blinks back on with a beep—

the moon lost in clouds

in-flight magazine:

a four-letter word for lunar

movie over,

    the moon lightens

the snow-capped mountains