Lines for Larry

Larry was a student of mine. He wrote poetry, and he was a member of a sky-diving club. On his last jump, he performed maneuvers all the way down, but his chute never opened.

He once said: "Coming back to earth
requires some condecension."

He meant those moments when,
Dangling puppet-wise
From silken lines,
His free flight was done
And he must yet again
Depend upon his chute
To safely touch the common earth once more.

He said he loved the plunge
Into a heady atmosphere,
Soaring downward eagle-spread
Cock-sure in aerobatic glee,
Aloof to gravity.

He never spoke of such an end, but
Could too, too solid earth dissolve,
And let his fall pass through,
I would have had it so.

Instead he flew into the ground,
But never told us why
He had decided not to soar again.

-- Warren F. O'Rourke, 1978 (revised in 2004)