Leaving on a Jet Plane

(For an air ticket cheaper than the associated taxes and

airport fees added to it, one can shuttle about Europe on

carriers with names such as EasyJet, Ryan Air,

German Wings, and my personal favorite Wizz Air)

What is it about an airport that compels me to write? Maybe it’s the seemingly endless amount of material to observe, analyze and emotionally process. Here are two such musings captured at the Frankfurt Airport waiting to fly to Warsaw, Poland……

At the Airport
7.1.05

Inside the terminal, bright lights reflect off shinny, waxed floors illuminating the scene
The eyes of the hurried multitudes furtively moving about racing, searching, keeping pace with their feet
Lives full of anxiety and fear are exposed here amongst the ever-present confusion and agitation of travel
What we’re taught to repress is allowed here, released
Normal, free to be in transition, change, uncertainty

Here I’m at my calmest, my solitude glowing about me, angelic, omnipotent
Within the movement of eyes a meeting can occur, a blink, humanity connects for an instant and is then gone
In this way thousands of worlds diverge that would never have met otherwise, outward trappings observed, anonymity removed
We are all untied in this struggle to see, to understand, to know

I move about effortlessly as possible, I do not want to disturb this chaotic perfection

I offer an elderly couple my seat so they can sit next to each other and wait
Wait for the next unexpected surprise, significant life change, heartbreak or ecstasy
We are all crammed close in that waiting area, so close together, we have no other choice

Rain outside cools the summer heat, the big plate glass is sweating and steamy
Inside it is always warm, charged
Anxiety, boredom, curiosity, indifference, so plainly displayed for all to see in this bright, noisy caldron
Always in motion, the eyes
We must seek
We are contained, trapped, there is nothing else to do

The flight’s boarding is announced
We all rise up purposefully
The one act of perfect orderly synchronicity here
And push towards the gate

Take Off
7.1.05

Click, clack, overhead bins opening then closing welcoming the new arrivals
Waiting to receive their cherished worldly belongings deemed too precious to be stored below

The path is narrow but straight and we are all forced to walk upon it until compulsion, fate, random choice or predermined ticketing dictate that we turn suddenly headed for our soft cushioned destiny
Window or aisle? These are our only real choices for no one wants to sit in the middle unless they must join a loved one
Close, protective, intimate in this open cabin of strangers
Take my hand, my love, we will leave this earth soon

The attendants scurry about herding us like livestock, making sure we conform and don’t stray
Their dog like persistence, gentle, light barks, pushing us unwittingly to where we know we must go
Jackets, bags, water bottles, magazines juggled about with carnival mastery, thrown into the air and then landing exactly where we need them

An infant produces a piercing cry
Short bursts, and just repetitive enough that no one is able to relax
We all repeat that sound inside, over and over, all our lives
As irritating as it might be is it the affirmation of our humanity

A stranger moves past me as I sit in the aisle seat, dark suit brushing up against my leg as he squeezes by to sit in the middle
I curse, my comfort zone removed
His fate is sealed

We are complete and the heavy metallic doors close
During the few long minutes on the tarmac we think a variety of thoughts as countless as the number of places we all have or will go to in our lives
The pilot, our new God, gives his final blessing, “flight crew take your seats for departure”
Engines roar, we are pushed forward and gravity escapes to somewhere more relevant
We are off the ground