I have poised upon the edge
Of slumbering giants wrapped in snow,
and God-like from celestial ledge
Scanned the valleys far below
And felt the awesome pageantry
Of winter’s silent, frozen grace,
The mute, forbidding majesty
Of white worlds ringed in azure space.
And I have known the ecstasy
Of scintillating, earth-bound flight.
The iridescent symphony
Of flashing snow in crystal light
That sparkles in the shining air
Like myriad sequins from my wake.
Truant stardust hanging there
Along the meteor track I make.
And I have tasted heady draughts
Of peril, coincident with speed.
Inebriate! Borne on flying shafts
And wild as any falcon, freed
To soar alone, to turn and wheel
Beyond the reach of mundane things.
To break the bounds of earth and feel
That I have wings! I have wings!
Bill Dowey