Austin In The Air

An ode to Austin, Texas, forever my home no matter where I go.

Austin in the air,

miniature.

 

The towers and lakes are

miniature.

 

A vast land,

sheer distance in a plane window

streams below my feet.

 

The higher I fly

makes smaller the immediate

effects of an impressed city,

and larger the land it burrows.

 

Austin, Texas and its spring bluebonnets

and Indian paint brush wild fire flowers

sprung on Loop 1’s hillside,

more so in the Hill Country

and its western spurious lakes,

greenbelts and natural soul springs.

 

The longer I look, and study the landscape,

I dully notice one slight north to west eye

shift makes a glance of one half hour drive,

or one day’s walk.

 

Briefly I see suspended bridges and meandered rivers

and grouped day radio towers on a high hill of off red blinkers,

the southwestern hills and unkempt clouds

and light endless sky,

the UT forty-acre campus,

an under construction downtown sky scraper

will soon power over the skyline’s scenery,

but now I’m too far away.

 

Carry me higher to see my love

put in the miniature, in parachute’s perspective

until the high plain has flown closer

and grows every bit further we go down,

and lowers to Kansas City International,

a murky thirty-degree spring day

and dead Midwest grass farms

along West I-70 to Lawrence, Kansas

and March leafless trees left over winter on Kentucky Street.

 

There is no point where earth meets sky

from such a low view,

no dreams here so high to see that sight,

of my long and lovely Austin in the air.

Author's Note

I wrote this on my flight from Austin to Kansas City today, and polished it this evening. Please let me know what you think.

Reviews

[Adam Jordan Turner]

Oh gosh. Ok I stand corrected, which I fear will frequently be the situation, this is my absolute favorite of your pieces. It is just so beautiful, I felt like I was right there with you. I can not tell you what an amazing job you did with the imagery in this piece, you're really really good at that. You really painted the most beautiful picture with this, it was almost like you were telling the story behind a portrait. I totally love the build to the climax as well and then the slightly abrupt ending. Really awesome!

Austin, Texas and its spring bluebonnets

and Indian paint brush wild fire flowers

sprung on Loop 1's hillside,

more so in the Hill Country

and its western spurious lakes,

greenbelts and natural soul springs.

There is my favorite stanza. It's so beautiful, the description, and so true! Um...did you go to UT or something? I live in Houston and my favorite activity is going to Austin! Hahaha, I love it so much! When were you there? Alright, good job!....I think you should be my mentor.

[TL Boehm]

beautifully done. I love the way the poem expands allowing the reader to see more, just as your view would have expanded with the ascending flight.

[Erin Phoenix]

:)

v
v
v

"Carry me higher to see my love
put in the miniature, in parachute's perspective
until the high plain has flown closer."



Nice work Travis...

[April Child]

Nice, a birds eye view from up in the sky. I spend alot of time in planes looking down like this too so I could relate to this piece alot.

Austin, Texas and its spring bluebonnets
and Indian paint brush wild fire flowers
sprung on Loop 1's hillside,
more so in the Hill Country
and its western spurious lakes,
greenbelts and natural soul springs.

Makes me want to go visit....

[Kasey Klein]

Hello Travis.

Clear and straight forward. I like that. A nice portrait, in and out of self-perception.

[thecoolone52]

great imagrey you know alot about the roads and the geography... which makes this piece very intelligent and beautiful... i realllly enjoyed this one... but i liked orange stone a tadd better just a tad.... anyway great write

[No One Important]

I can see the landscape in my mind's eye...beautifully described...

[Shadows of Sight]

I think that you did a wonderfull job of capturing the images of a fine city in Texas! Kansas, simply can't compare! I hope some day you shall find a way to return to your shinning city! with it's colorful lights and yummy steak houses! :)