The Farthest Wave: Who Am I?

April 1975

O, feathered fury up in the sky,
Gracefully gliding over the trees,
Teach me to fly way up high
So I may glide on the morning breeze.

I want to be like you, Osprey,
But I can't, you see,
In the beginning God said "Nay,
Man shouldn't fly, that can't be.

I'm sorry, Osprey,
I wanted to be your friend.
But I can't by day,
So by night, I will, 'til dreams end.

During my freshman year of high school I had an English course with a substantial emphasis on poetry, the result of which was a short notebook that included a few original poems as well as many classic poems with representative pictures that I cut out of newspapers and magazines. Only a few years ago, after looking everywhere for this notebook, I gave it up for lost. But when visiting my mom in July of 2009 I decided to ask her about it. Excellent record keeper that she is, she pulled it out of her files in a matter of minutes. This is a poem from that notebook.