04-30-2019, 06:23 AM
Useless Things
A fighter pilot told me long ago–
amid discussion of boars’ teats and such–
the three most useless things in all the world:
they’re altitude above you, and runway
behind you, and airspeed you haven’t got.
It’s hard to argue with a man who flew
and fought, and hadn’t died of it. He knew
that what he’d said was positively true.
But one of those three isn’t like the rest:
yes, when you go too slow you stall and fall,
and when you pass your runway’s ending marks
without ascending, man, you hit the wall.
But as to unused, waiting altitude...
Come on, Ken, what’s more wonderful than space
to mount up into, altitude above
your head, like horses no one’s ridden yet?
Up far enough there’s Heaven or, at best,
unending flight and freedom for the blest.
A fighter pilot told me long ago–
amid discussion of boars’ teats and such–
the three most useless things in all the world:
they’re altitude above you, and runway
behind you, and airspeed you haven’t got.
It’s hard to argue with a man who flew
and fought, and hadn’t died of it. He knew
that what he’d said was positively true.
But one of those three isn’t like the rest:
yes, when you go too slow you stall and fall,
and when you pass your runway’s ending marks
without ascending, man, you hit the wall.
But as to unused, waiting altitude...
Come on, Ken, what’s more wonderful than space
to mount up into, altitude above
your head, like horses no one’s ridden yet?
Up far enough there’s Heaven or, at best,
unending flight and freedom for the blest.
Non-practicing atheist