The Physics of Flight
At the triple point where wind, cliff and breaker
imply the wild sway of their native alliance
the analyzing eye of the black oystercatcher
zeroes the place to insert her crimson probe.
Bent through the lens of the petals’ spellbinding lobe
the solitary bee sees the orchid’s stamen
as the one possible line of convergence.
The pressure of darkness falling into their cave
explodes the blind bats out on compressions of light.
Unaware that two objects cannot coexist
the white-throated swift hurtles at tall rock
where a fissure must open to accept it.
The scarlet-faced hummingbird chasing the hawk
surrenders to Newton’s laws no limitation
certain the momentum of his charge is nerved
in the fury of his acceleration
Symmetries of the Sun’s red coming and going
may be gauged in the pulsating thick strings
of the red-winged blackbirds coming and going.
Whenever one measures the physics of flight
who is more changed, the observer or the observed?
