I asked you if I could fly
You said no.
So I sat down, confined to the earth forever,
and a tear rolled down my cheek.

I look up, and see some birds.
They tweet and twirl,
flapping their wings.
Wings.

I rush and cut,
slicing through construction paper.
I tape the wing like structures onto my arms, and race outside.
I flap my arms rapidly, and look at you-Am I flying now?
You stare, smirk, and say- no. you are silly, stop trying.

Dejected, I rip off the crumpled wings,
I sit down, and for the second time today, the loose tear streaks my face.
I then see an airplane, zooming across the sky.
That must be it- I thought.

I muster up all of the cardboard I can find, and begin my crafting.
Paints, tape, scissors, and cardboard scatter the room as I hop into my creation.
I run out side and make plane noises, bumbling my voice as deep it could go for a little six year old.
I only pause to say- Look! I must be flying now!
You give me a look of sympathy- No, you are not. Give up, you will never fly by yourself.

My shoulders stooped as I carefully removed myself from my cardboard aircraft.
I sit, and this time, a tsunami of tears consumed my little shaking body.
You pick me up, and hold me.
You whisper- Shh. You will never fly, just forget it and be happy.
I look at you and nod. But I have lied. I will never forget it.

And I never did. All through elementary school,
I would draw rockets and plans, trying them out as soon as I got home.
I would display them to you,
and all I would see was the shake of your head.

Middle school came,
and I still had not forgotten.
I would come home with equations, showing flight patterns and ways to master it.
You would stare at me and say- Forget it. There is no way.

High school I still thought of flight,
But this time, I never showed you.
I would study and work,
until the very last day,
dreaming at night of the day I could fly away from you.

I graduated, and moved on to college.
I would still come to you asking- Can I fly now?
You gape at me- No! You are grown up, Forget it.

But I never did.
And I stand here now,
About to graduate.
About to live.
About to fly.

Fly.

After talking to you,
After so many years,
I sat down a cried.
Just like when I was six.
Then it hit me.

I was being to literal,
who needs wings or engines to fly?
All I need is the mind.
The power I needed all along was in my head,
I was just to narrow in my search to realize I was already flying,
not literal,
but figuratively.

And now, I know,
I have been flying all along.