In-Flight Entertainment

on mobile? turn phone sideways!

I honestly like it, though 
I understand the white knuckles
And the well-placed distrust in the math and
The metal behind man’s god-defying sky bus.
No need for a sudden loss of cabin pressure or 
To find the life vest located conveniently under each seat
But I delight in the thrill of little turbulence 
Like a baby on a bouncing knee.
I like the palpable seriousness of flight attendants
Performing their well-rehearsed rituals
To the chime of the seatbelt light 
And clattering plastic percussion,
Seatback tables and overhead bins 
Rattling against solid swells of atmosphere 
Reminding the violently flightless
What a miracle it is to sit back and recline in the bird’s eye —
To fit into one oblong plate such vast swathes of the celestial 
Body that holds our whole lives from start
To unfathomable finish. For a few minutes, 
I like remembering 
That, like the infant in row 19,
More of us should be screeching.