Kites without string

At first you ran
looking behind you to gauge loft and direction.
Hopeful that the trajectory you had chosen
would result in untangled flight for what you have launched.
Aspiring to heights where the horizon curves into infinity.
Watching buffeting wind lift its’ charge to soar without firm destination.
Random air giving altitude and vantage for detecting
whispers of other landscapes.
This awareness creating a thirst which overwhelms
the need for attachment. The string becoming an unnecessary
artifact of control.
You know that to harvest, a fruit must be released from its’ stem.
But you hope it will still be grounded.
Still have a tail pointing toward its’ origin.
You know that not all fledglings fly from the nest.
Some simply drop.
Destined to nourish the boughs that shelter siblings and generations.
Geese have been observed reacting to such a death by flying and calling,
Searching until they themselves become disoriented and lost.
It is a risk to untether
and to be untethered.

 

Rick Christiansen is a 62 year old refugee of corporate America. After retiring a couple of years ago he began writing again after a long hiatus. He has now had several poems published and is working on his first chap book. He lives in Missouri with two Basset Hounds. His unique perspective is inspired and influenced by everything from Epistemology to his grandchildren.

Art can illuminate even the most elusive and difficult to comprehend ideas. Visual rules and tightly codified visual metaphors help scientists communicate complex ideas mostly amongst themselves, but they can also become barriers to new ideas and insights. Dr. Regina Valluzzi’s images are abstracted and diverged from the typical rules and symbols of scientific illustration and visualization; they provide an accessible window into the world of science for both scientists and non-scientists.