Over the Atlantic...

“measures of mercury”

1000
1000
1000
feet above silent
crust
I cruise at altitude,
bathed in the exhalation of others.
while warning whispers
staccato blush our aura.

I want to crawl
through the plexiglass.
I want to stand on the flexing wing
before I dive
through layers of atmosphere.
before I plummet
through layers of sparse molecules
and gaps that can’t be shaken by sound.

I would eventually land in the sea
somewhere between two continents,
irretrievable
and impacted
into my own particular
ether.

and during this night
while a stranger
sleeps touching
my elbow
I’m consumed with eating
my own death.
I want to ingest my own ether
as it drifts back upwards from the sea,
unconstrained by any force
and too finely/finally
purified
to be noticed by gravity.