aerobatics box

put your arms out like you’re gonna fly she’d say
and straighten the shoulders of my little sleeves just so
i recalled today as i did that
the meticulous personal care
without fanfare, she showed me 
without explanation
just a way to be

i did straighten up my sleeves
and i did fly
unbound from the ground
sailed between then cut right through 
clouds of condensed dream vapor 
hers, mine, my parents', my siblings', my first love's, my best friend's
milo aukerman's, bob dylan's, r. crumb's, herman hesse's

she worked on planes at pratt & whitney for decades
second or third shifts i think
hands hammered into leathery keepers
of home and meal for her two little people

these planes we build
to sail all up and around
like bill at MVL
loop-dee-loop through your patch of sky
every afternoon in the season
just cause why wouldn't you
then carefully polish your old Pitts
snug the cover and put her away until tomorrow