Water in the Air
I fly alone
in a steel skeleton,
covered with delicate rainbows,
moving in and out of the currents
through the water in the air.
I have disappeared into
short-lived sculptures
that have formed and hang below.
I touch the pane
knowing…
I want to step out and feel
the airy softness that surrounds
the black and white shapes-
floating horses and knights
protecting their castles,
just as when I was a child
and lay on the sidewalk looking up,
guessing the patterns,
I start to remember …
I tear away the steel
with the awareness I will fall
into the invisible mist,
separated by the two planes.
And yet, I paint new colors
to protect my weathered wings,
knowing the clouds cannot carry me,
knowing the currents will not end.
I fly into the clear stillness,
beyond Zeus’s fury,
feeling high,
drifting beyond the sun’s half eye,
as my tears bleed water in the air,
I turn
to descend,
and before landing,
I know the child again.
Bio:
Karen Herzog, a journalism/film teacher for the past twenty years in Miami, Florida, is a Media Specialist at Braddock Senior High. She writes poetry, screenplays and is currently writing a Y/A novel. She has taught at Miami-Dade College and on the graduate level at the University of South Florida. Herzog holds the following degrees: BA in Fine Arts (painting and art history) from Florida State University,; BS in English and MS (English Education, minor in creative writing Florida International University; an MFA in Communications and Screenwriting from University of Miami, and an MLS in Information and Library Science from the University of South Florida. Herzog’s interests include reading, politics, film, social issues, painting, and photography
