On the Wing

Chased through the day by Arabian knights

From the dunes to a dock, to a deck I alight

One of sweet solid beams and sails like gold

In the catching of the sun, noon-high and bold

And with a creak of the keel out we sail

As I dance up the rigging, a spiderweb trail

That leads to the sky and the crack of the pennants

Colours whipping in the wind as the wind is spent

The sparkling expanse of the ocean below

Burns at my eyes and lights up my soul

 I sway on the ropes with the rush of waves

Until coastlines break the blue on blue daze

Returning to the deck that carries us thither

On swift hands I flit down to the timbers

Now we drift into port, a foreign landing

A riot of colour where strange people are standing

Sights to feed excitement and curiosity’s hunger

The bazaars and parades and myriad wonders

That fill the skyline, city’s bustle and breath

Through which my feet may nimbly step

I a fleshed ghost with a scarf on my head

Travel their roofs, breathing spices and bread

Surveying their alleys, avenues, gardens

 And hundreds of customs beyond my ken

Then from a white dome my scarf tumbles down

Raising eyes and cries to its ivory crown

And those people see that here am I

A wandering exotic and a wonderful prize

So off to the chase– I the fox once more

As I dash out their city again I may soar

Free and fickle as the quickest wind

When in pursuit another venture begins

I am for far hills, I am careless and light

To tire them by day as the Arabian knights.

© 2012 Elizabeth Cook

Image from Tomasz Jedruszek