Brianna P. Stout (poem in Jan. Issue)  cautions us against chasing planes and falling into dreams. Listen to her stand on the plain earth as it moves.

1) Reading your poem makes me want a hug. Why do I feel that way?

Well, some people just like to be touched, DeWitt.  Please don’t try to hug Jacob, though – he wouldn’t like that.

2) Both flight and freedom have historically been used to represent freedom. What is their connection?

I think it boils down to a desire to feel like we have control over a situation.  No one wants to feel pinned down, like we can’t do what we want or need to do.  When we see someone fly above us, we, envious, want to join in their locomotion.  It’s kind of like those chickens owned by that Causby dude (from the United States v. Causby case).  A plane flew over the Causby farm, and the chickens were like, “Whoa! We want to do that!”  The only problem was that the chickens were in their chicken house and couldn’t really fly, so Causby claimed that the trespassing planes caused his chickens to slam themselves to death against the chicken house walls in pursuit of the plane.  All right, so this question has taken a depressing turn (I’m starting to understand your first question more now), so I’ll have another go at it.  Maybe it’s more like my cat.  Whenever he feels uncomfortable with a situation, when he feels uneasy or slightly out of control, he doesn’t go hide under the bed, he finds the highest spot possible and perches there.  By being up high, he feels like he can handle things, like his abilities are, ahem, heightened.  His own little slice of freedom.  O.K., I know that a cat answer may seem typical, but don’t you prefer it to the depressing chicken analogy? Continue reading →