You have to be grounded to fly

You have to be grounded to fly

As kites well show—

Resistance from their strings

giving the wind the force

to push them high

Which if released would let them fall

slicing tip-wise 

through the layers of air

You have to be grounded to fly

As birds well know—

as they push off against the gravity

that holds the air that cushions them

Through which they carve their flight

with sharply honed intention

and the slipstream of their glide

You have to be grounded to fly

As planets go

through space, 

their molten centers coalescing force

The silent concentration of their cores

connecting them in orbit to their stars

And so it is with us

Within our deeply grounded center

is born the power that sends us forth

on arcs of soaring splendor.

©Wendy Mulhern

February 19, 2012