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I'm a Minnesota Girl, living in the south. I tell my friends I try not to talk and think like a Yankee, but sometimes I slip up!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Airport reminders


Picked up a friend at the airport yesterday... this brought to mind a poem from Rita Dove and I quickly went home and looked it up. You'll enjoy it, here it is:





Vacation

~~by Rita Dove



I love the hour before takeoff,
that stretch of no time, no home
but the gray vinyl seats linked like
unfolding paper dolls. Soon we shall
be summoned to the gate, soon enough
there’ll be the clumsy procedure of row numbers
and perforated stubs—but for now
I can look at these ragtag nuclear families
with their cooing and bickering
or the heeled bachelorette trying
to ignore a baby’s wail and the baby’s
exhausted mother waiting to be called up early
while the athlete, one monstrous hand
asleep on his duffel bag, listens,
perched like a seal trained for the plunge.
Even the lone executive
who has wandered this far into summer
with his lasered itinerary, briefcase
knocking his knees—even he
has worked for the pleasure of bearing
no more than a scrap of himself
into this hall. He’ll dine out, she’ll sleep late,
they’ll let the sun burn them happy all morning
—a little hope, a little whimsy
before the loudspeaker blurts
and we leap up to become
Flight 828, now boarding at Gate 17.

3 comments:

Marion said...

Great poem. I was perusing Rita Dove's poetry last week and thinking of posting one. So many books & poems....I hope you're having a good week. Love & Blessings!

Pam said...

I like it!

Thinking about you!

Kelly said...

Love this poem! We flew this summer, so yes...it definitely struck a chord with me. (though flying has changed SO much in recent years!)