A poem about the unique shifts in perspective experienced while gazing out an airplane window that I wrote while flying from New York to California some years ago.
All sudden beautifully does grow
When gazed upon by distant eye
From lofty view of landscapes lo
Ascending onward into sky
The vastness of an ocean still
Inertia casts illusions grand
Of motions slowed and distance filled
We crawl above the patterned land
Winged perspective offers visions
Geometries not often seen
Tiny squares and long divisions
Blended with organic green
Mountains loom like dunes of earth
With rippled waves of stone
Scribbled lines to mark the paths
Where exploration's grown
A macrocosmic circuitry
Which hums with labours so complex
Its outcome scoffs at prophecy
Its methods never man detects
Contemplating yonder wing
Which holds us in this eerie flight
A metal push towards heaven brings
Perceptions for my eager sight
And now the clouds obstruct my thoughts
Casting Earth's expanse in haze
Miles of lives who seem now caught
Amidst a white and foggy maze
Horizons grow to epic bounds
Uniting all I see
With downward view of common ground
How small this world can be