The Holding Pattern
I am not a pilot or a bird
But I can fly
Up here
Stuck
In this holding pattern
Only 5280 feet between us
You are not a tower or a tree
Yet you can guide
Down there
Stuck
With these regulations
Only fog and traffic between us
Ah – I am safe
Yet safety is the enemy
I circle around
And around
Waiting for the “go ahead”
Trust is in your hands
Like grains of sand
I see it all
13 billion feet below me
I am a saviour and a god
I jump…
Jackie Blair McSween
I was inspired by Murdoch’s Clouded Colour & Joanna’s Statement for Easter Monday to repost this poem. It was my very first post, but not my first poem. Timing, although irrelevant, is the driving force.
Jackie Blair 
Jackie, I think this is one of your best, most ambitious poems — are the sexual references deliberate? But I am not sure of how you were inspired by my Easter Monday post — what am I not seeing?
I think I just got it — XTC right?
Thank you Joanna, and I like the word ambitious, I find it to be synonymous with brave these days. When I wrote this poem, I had no conscious thoughts with regards to the sexual references, but I do see them now.
Murdoch’s post inspired me because of the aerial view and your’s inspired me because I felt your poem was saying the same with the reference to god.
I wrote this poem about a year ago when I was feeling stuck in my separation and felt the only way to move was to fly. However when we do learn to fly, for now, we still have to find a way back to earth (which is the challenging part these days).
And XTC , well like you, they had it figured out in the 80’s.
Jackie