Shore stilled by anticipation 

Crowd crammed together, collective breath held 

All of us waiting for the offering to be placed on the altar between earth and sky 

Then sound bursts into being 

An angel of metal spreads its wings 

Their sharp blue cutting through the sky’s flesh 

And I watch this angel, see it conquer the heavens 

My gaze drifts away 

To the mirroring blue of the lake below 

I see swallows glide through the air

Wings slipping through the fabric of the sky

As I watch them dive in tandem with the angels — 

Both diving, flying, reaching 

Both trying to conquer the sky —

I realize maybe 

We are not so different after all