Bale Out

There came the cry, as we huddled behind
"Bale out" yelled the skipper, but this was no drill.

We'd practised many times before

My mind went blank, my limbs were stiff.

Paralysed by trepidation,

I must rise above it for the boys in my station.

Suddenly on the edge, my legs dipped
Liberated from the chaos.
Hands gripping either side of the opening,

Just as a baby clutches its mother's finger.

"No time for hesitation, others waiting",
A quick look at the strained faces

An unspoken goodbye.

"Oh Christ" like a bird let me fly.

Freefall

Suspended, hanging by a solitary thread
Paused in motion, time stood still.
No give int his cord of descent
A vacuum he's not willing to fill.

Adrenaline compressed to a dull ache
The wings of life come together,
Praying hands plead for mercy.

He felt nothing but almost immediately saw a miracle
A flutter of white, a sharp flap

A terrific jerk and stab of the harness straps

Cut him from oblivion.

He look in awe at this flag of liberation
He has reached an unknown destination.

Pendulum

Singed nerves soothed by the patchwork below
Fields haphazardly seamed together

White threads weave through the vast landscape.

Like a paperweight tied to a sack of silk
Swinging like a pendulum on a ticking clock
Waiting for the freefall to stop.

Runway

Nature's landing pad, an earthy quilt
A plucked flower ready to wilt.
Restored by mother nature's healing hand,
A wounded nightingale ready to land.