The 2River View 15.4 (Summer 2011)
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Michelle Meier

Flying

Someone I don't know said to ease her fear of flying
it helps to remember how many planes are currently in the sky.

It has to do with probability, her father once assured her.
It seems the next logical thing to be afraid of is mid-air collisions.

It's fine if of 6,000 flights in the sky over North America
she's the blue line sneaking off towards Bermuda.

But let's be serious for a minute. These are games we play
with our fathers who like to talk about aviation.

If we could all fly planes we would all feel more fulfilled.
But then mid-air collisions might really become a problem

so that is out of the question.
It has nothing to do with our eye sight.

So we talk a lot about flying, because it is the most polite way
to talk about wishes and death with someone we just met.

Pi Day

Who knows why the stationary bicyclist
rides in the space between parked cars.

Today a thirteen year old told me it was
Pi Day, you know, like the number 3.14?

So what do we do now? I wanted to know.
Well, we can eat pie, she suggested.

It seems like a good idea to me, pie every
March fourteenth, just when we're all very
confused about the clocks, we can celebrate
the circle and infinity,

and irrational decisions.

I entered the bar last week in the dark.
Today, I pass at the same time and it is light.
It is the scene where I am a stranger kissing a
stranger and we pay the tab in a rush.

People always say, Oh, how fast things change!

Today nothing changes fast enough.

Michelle Meier is a writer, teacher and artist from New York City. She holds a BA in Art History and an MFA in Photography and Related Media. She is currently completing her first collection of poems. contact

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