EARTH FROM ABOVE

I see the slanted,

cracked
beltways

of the ethnologue paintings

as I look down on
Earth's globe

hovering
without the evolution of Dinosaur Wings

the wind guiding me
along the 20,000 year
path

of the Great Alaskan Bridge

melted by the upward
breeze

that keeps me gliding
without the patterns of DNA'd feathers

and as I trail
the beltways of
the ethnologue paintings

I read the graffiti on the
cloud-shaped walls

The Tibetan air
lightning flames

The Siberian frost
abortion icebergs

The Kenyan jungle waters
disease cells decayed

The over-broiled cigars
of Paraguay

and as long as the upward breeze
keeps me gliding
above the Earth's globe

I will stroke
the ethnologue paintings

I will hang the canvas
above cumulous clouds

I will guide other artists through
the rainbow colors

and challenge the poets
of distant lands

and I will continue to fly the slanted,

cracked
beltways

studying the fine lines of the paintings

hovering silently

hovering cautiously

without the benefits

of these stolen, evolution crawling

naked, cold wings

Stephan Baley
Copyright 2000