an overview from the sky

 the truth of the bird revealed

the helicopter lifts up above Princeville, Kauai,

and the ground falls away below us,

all six of us carefully ensconced in our seats,

belted, head phoned, wrapped in glass, strong and clear,

pulled up and away by rotors powered by fossil fuel,

our pilot comforts us:

20 years of flying, 

over 15,000 trips over, up and down,

the island like the proverbial back of his hand,

instead of being ants looking up at the mountains,

we are as birds looking down on them,

what an overview!

details of slope, of igneous extrusions, of verdant growth,

all of which plays upon the stage

volcanic releases have pushed toward the sky,

such reaching mirrored in chlorophyll's search for the sun,

we follow rivers up valley after valley,

and hover where slope allows water

to slip down in rivulets, in falls that draw us,

as if we thirst for the oasis that is their essence,

the highest part of the island is the rim of the caldera,

near a mile high but thousands of feet lower than it first was,

 one of the wettest places on Earth, 

at 22 degrees latitude, in the middle of the Pacific,

the moisture of the ocean releases on the land below,

we fly east and follow the coast where yesterday

our boat carried us to marvel in close-ups 

that today merge into the overall island story,

the truth of the bird merges with the truth of the ant,

the macro contains the micro,

and yet neither can hold fully the glory

bountifully revealed on and in Kauai,

we seek as many doors to open as we can find

for what is here craves to be seen, to be known,

to allow the inherent awe this place deserves 

to manifest within us.

by Henry H. Walker

July  4, ‘23