This poem titled "Airplanes", I wrote when I was traveling to Texas for this leadership retreat with Slippery Rock during the winter break. At that point I had been on an airplane fourteen times and now after a little under a year, I have been on a plane twenty-seven times. I always joke around that I practically live at airports because of my constant traveling, but as I flew across the country for what felt like the millionth time, I began to realize what my life has turned out to be after traveling so much. So this poem is what my life is like living in airports.
I have a love-hate relationship
With planes.
I hate to be confined to the small space
Of seat 34F
Leaning against a window
Watching as the plane takes flight,
But I love sitting in 34F
Leaning against a window
Watching as the plane lifts off the ground
And ascends into the air.
I hate being surrounded by people
I don't know and probably never will,
But I love being surrounded by people
Who I will never know
And imaging where this flight is taking them.
I hate the dizziness
Of cabin pressure change,
But I love being dizzy
As the air is sucked out of me.
I hate sitting in seat 34F
For hours never knowing
Where I am,
But I love sitting in seat 34F
For hours never knowing
Where I could be
And where I could end up.
I hate when my flight gets delayed,
But I love getting delayed
So I can watch the other planes take off
And wonder where they're going.
I hate having to pack so little,
But I love packing so little
So I learn what I need and what I don't
And what's valuable and what's not.
I have developed this relationship
With planes
Where I hate to travel,
But I love the adventure of it.
I've met people who have never flown before
And people who have traveled
All their lives.
I've seen so many beautiful places
Without even leaving the airport.
I've felt absolute dread
Of missing my flight home,
And I've felt complete rejoice
Seeing the twinkling lights of home.
I've felt terrifying turbulence,
And I've seen fantastic sunrises.
I hate traveling across the country
To go home for a few days
But I love traveling across the country
To go home for a few days
Because
The day becomes an adventure.
