High In The Blue Dome

As a child
The sky was simply there for me
It was blue all the time
Whether hidden by clouds
Or darkened by night
Carpeted by stars
Or the moon's illuminated reflected light

To be stared up at in wonder
As a child does

Now halfway through life or more
The sky is still there
Capping all of creation
In it's Robin's egg blue hue
Clouds here and there
Stars and moon hanging in clear view

Stared up at in no less wonder
As most humans do

But now it's full of other things
Assemblages of metal and composite
Hammered and torqued together
Woven layered and cured
Aerodynamically breaking free of the Earth's tether
Defying gravity at least for a time
Leaving trails of moisture marking their passage
Or waves of sound to search for
Always fooling my ear with the distance involved

You can't look where the sound seems to be coming from
For that speck in the sky has already gone far past that point

The sky is full of physics and practical mechanics of motion
Actions and reactions proving theorem every day
Metal fatigue and sacrificial wear
Waiting to be fixed or come flying apart at the seams
Pressurized tubes of metal and composite
Flying high or low, slow or fast, carriers of dreams

To be stared up at in wonder
As a child does