Laurence Musgrove: In the Cockpit

               for RKM

I like to imagine that every morning

Before I get up, the pilot of my plane

Runs through the standard checklist,

Making sure the gauges and switches 

Are set and secure for an easy takeoff,

A sunny altitude, and a soft landing.

And this is the checklist I got from

My parents who were my first pilots,

Though they were just following lists

They were given by their folks, who

Received theirs from theirs: so many

Pilots and lists with so much to check.

And over time, mistakes were made,

So the lists had to be revised because,

You know: people. People like us who

Got distracted, pocketed the wrong list,

Or never knew their lists even existed,

Who never got the list that says there’ll

Be lists to follow, to check, to forgive.

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Copyright 2024 Laurence Musgrove

Laurence Musgrove is a Professor of English and Modern Languages at Angelo State University in Texas.