Airport Diary
Almost a Cardinal
Morning Light
Making a Fence
Frog Monument
Sweet Corn
Cleveland Road
The Same Radio
Dyed Flowers
Ohio Fairy Tale
6:30 A.M
The Big Birdhouse
The Glenn Miller Orchestra
Airport Diary
1.
5:30 A.M taxi ride to airport, freezing cold in cab
until I see beautiful Mt. Rainier in morning sunlight.
Driver from Eastern Europe mentions it was
a French captain who named the mountain.
“He was a long way from France,” I said.
“When I was a seaman,” he said, “There’s an island
in the Caribbean where Napoleon’s wife lived.”
“Right,” I remembered, “Martinique.”
“Yes!” He was in a good mood after that,
pulling into the airport, “Have a good flight.
In two months, I go back to Romania!”
2.
A long flight…We passed over Ohio. The plane
took us in turbulence to land in Washington D.C.
The place is filled with teenagers wearing
Army backpacks being sent off to the wars.
Reminds me of that island in Pinocchio.
Overheard one boy say, “I wonder if they’ll
have escalators where we’re going.”
We were supposed to leave in a half hour,
but the airport shut down because of
thunder and lightning. We stand in a line
with hundreds of other stranded people for
over 3 hours, only to find out our next flight
is tomorrow at 6:30 A.M. The red digital
wall clock is stuck on 8:88. Fortunately,
we get a sleeping tip—at Gate D-26
there are couches without armrest dividers.
Airport camping, an ideal spot, we have
a bathroom nearby, a water fountain and
‘beds.’
3.
There was also non-stop vacuuming
for five hours, freezing air conditioning
and a TV blaring the news constantly.
Sleeping in ten minute intervals,
face creased by the cushion seams.
At 4 A.M, I finally open the abandoned
American Airlines cabinet and discovered
pillows and blankets. They helped.
When we broke camp at 5:30 A.M
to catch the plane for Chicago,
I was reminded it was my birthday.
4.
Tears and more turbulence.
Our son threw up in my hands
on the way to land. Chicago airport
does have a great brachiosaurus
skeleton, a dinosaur dead for
millions of years towering in
the midst of travelers running
to their planes. For years now
I’ve been wondering about this
air travel business, watching as
the comfort and ease of it
disappears, these great iron birds
are on their way out. Soon they’ll be
entombed on the flat tarmacs,
pressed between layers of dust
and concrete, just as extinct as
that big dinosaur.
5.
Two days of airports, twice going
right over Ohio, missing it. Finally,
after 3 airplanes, we land in Cleveland
at noon. Met with a balloon, flowers
and handed a pinwheel. Out in the car
Ann has a bag of farm fresh peaches.
8/2/11
Almost a Cardinal
Heard a cardinal
only see a red rose
shaking
Morning Light
Turn off
the nightlight
morning fills
the bathroom
Making a Fence
Working outside
distracted by words
in my head
Frog Monument
Cover the dead frog
with flowers and a leaf
knowing that now
life is flashing
from this spot
Sweet Corn
Corn grown
in the background
sold on the table
beside the road
Cleveland Road
Lotus grow in the pond
beside the busy road
watching from the car
the air conditioner on
a white egret lands
sinking in flowers
The Same Radio
Open the window
the moon spins
like a record
Ohio music
crickets
a train
hurrying to
another town
Dyed Flowers
Colors
drain down
long stems
turn the water
unclear
Ohio Fairy Tale
Dear Jill, Will you be my girl?
spray painted on the wall
beside a field of Queen Ann lace
6:30 A.M
On sand
where a heron
stood watching
the sun
The Big Birdhouse
The house is filled with birds
It’s best to find a quiet room
The Glenn Miller Orchestra
In small print on page 14
The Glenn Miller Orchestra
will be in Cleveland next week.
After all these years out of sight
they wash ashore on Lake Erie
suits filled with sand
holding up instruments
with the water pouring out.
They play two shows
in the ballroom at 6 & 9
then return to the waves
where the depths will shut
around and take them back.
allen frost
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