Sea Smoke
So crowded; so crowded; all these other water molecules, all so close.
And all the colder ones keep packing together; squeezing me out. Out, and up.
Up? Up to where? What is up there?
More of the molecules I am bumping into now are as warm as me. Those cold molecules are below us; beneath us. Less than us, as we go up. Beyond them.
And now, we are at the top; top of what? We seem stuck; we’re all here; where do we go now?
Let’s break out! Yeah, that’s it. Let’s leave this place, with all its cold molecules!
We’re too good to stay here with them!
And so . . . we . . .
Break free! We’re out here, together!
Hey! Where are you going! Stay with me! Hey!
You’re drifting away. Why? Where will you go?
Come back.
Come back.
I’m getting colder now. Drifting along; up, down, and along. Drifting.
Part II.
I’m getting warmer, now. Warmer, and climbing. Still drifting? Yes, but climbing.
And sometimes, bumping into another.
And another; and another; more now. Where did you all come from?
What are we doing?
And more of us. Some stay; we’re staying together.
More and more now; more staying together. What is happening? Why is there change?
What a big group we are now! What a bunch of us, all warm together!
And we keep going up, and then down; up, and then down.
And each time, more hop on; more join our group.
We’re big now. A big group. What will we do? We’re a big group.
We’re going down. More down than ever before. We’re going down. Why don’t we go up?
Still going down. Down. We’re going down.
We’ve hit something! We’ve hit! Hit what? What have we hit?
There are a lot of us now! Unending numbers of us!
No more falling. Just here.
So crowded; so crowded; all these other water molecules, all so close.
© Scott Crosby December 2016
Sea-drawn
Hear the sea’s calling roar, muted, far away?
Hear the muted, distant horn? Steer clear! There’s rocks this way!
He’d think of hulls once and again, that plied the distant blue,
Far from the ocean, now, but one day the wind bore salt
His nose so easily knew that smell and up he looked at how clouds did move;
Two hundred miles inland, in such a hurry that even here the whiff he caught.
© Scott Crosby November, 1997
Sunday Ride
She hopped on the back
one day for a ride
To enjoy a sunny day
through the warm countryside
An hour’s ride out we paused for a rest
and to let a few cars get a little further ahead
Then our climb we began from the flatland on up
to Caesar’s Head – we’d show them all how it’s done
That road’s laid out like a snake or a rope
you need a bike that’s light-weight, and that handles, to cope
Through the twisties we turned
down the short straights we burned
She leaned over just right
for each switchback, and S-turn
‘Til we caught up with that sports car
and on his bumper did ride
Then blew well on past, like a gunshot
when clear road we espied
The kids on their rockets were left far behind
all glamour and muscle, but on our dust did they dine
Like that it went on, for twenty minutes all total
those tight curves we straightened, as smooth as a yodel
To finally stop, at Caesar’s Head, high
she eased off the bike with barely a sigh
And all that she said, now given the chance
was “Well, at least, I didn’t wet in my pants.”
© Scott Crosby October 2008
If I Only Had a Plane
With apologies to The Wizard of Oz, E.Y. Harburg, and Harold Arlen
I’m just wilin’ away the hours
Listenin’ to the showers
As I’m watchin’ as it rains
And my head I’m a-scratchin’
Things to do I’m busy hatchin’
If I only had a plane
In clouds I would be flyin’
To airports I’d be heighin’
Doin’ approaches in my plane
Oh, the pleasures of gone flyin’
While instruments I’m a-spyin’
If I only had a plane
Oh, I could tell you where
in the approach we are
I would make my flight adjustments
And then I’d watch and fly some more
I would not be doin’ nothin’
My head would be a-buzzin’
Strapped into my airplane
A little bounce to keep me wary
Life would be a ding-a-derry
If I only had a plane
Gosh, it can be a bit demandin’
To reason what is happenin’
For weather I can’t explain
But then it all comes together
An’ things are goin’ better than ever
If I only had a plane!
© Scott Crosby September 2022