by Kaitlyn Spees

“U.S. airlines are carrying more passengers than ever, even while operating fewer flights than they did 20 years ago. They’re flying bigger planes while filling more seats on each one, and that’s testing the limits of the aviation system.”
—NPR

(With apologies to Yeats)

The TSA lines show my fate:
They almost reach the airport’s doors.
I struggle towards my distant gate
Out-shouldering the bag-bogged scores.
My fellow fliers follow ropes,
Politely flock round info signs,
But I’ll admit to secret hopes
They’re all on other flights than mine.
I look around, but I can’t guess
From faces glimpsed within the crowds
What business, fun, or family stress
Drives each of us above the clouds.
Where air, recycled, brings to mind
The salt and oil in sardine tins
and awe and misery, combined,
unite us as the trip begins.