Christopher Roe’s most recent poem to appear here was Through the shadows to the music (February 2014).

Taking flight
By Christopher Roe

In the  morning stillness
he looked down upon
the gathered crowd
cheerful birds were
……..singing
and his mind filled
with thoughts of flying
above his earthly worries
beyond the clouds.

A black hood was pulled
roughly over his head
and in the darkness there
he thought of the falcon
……..soaring
freed of tether and snood
and a rueful smile crept
across his shadowed face
ghostly wings beat the air.

He felt a circle going tight
around his throat and he heard
a sound beneath his feet
of wings snapping open
……..suddenly
a weightless falcon
he plunged through chilly air
flying to the freedom waiting
at the end of the rope.