Air Show
MITCHELL NOBIS
Outside the window
maybe 20 feet away at most
two birds
starlings I think
flew right at each other I mean
right at each other
and at the last second
like ½ oz. Blue Angels both
turned 90 degrees on a center axis
in an instant
and zipped by each other
their bellies not an inch apart.
Not even one inch.
On they flew, unflappable, into the dim fireworks of
the light grey rain
And I inhaled, checked my watch, and leaned back farther,
balancing now oh so precariously
on the chair’s two rear legs,
living.
Mitchell Nobis is a teacher and writer in Metro Detroit where he lives with his wife and young sons. Recently, his manuscript was a semi-finalist for the Philip Levine Prize. His poems appear in the English Journal and Language Arts Journal of Michigan with poems forthcoming in Rockvale Review and STAND Magazine. Mr Nobis participated in the June 2017 cohort of the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project. His co-authored professional text for teachers, Real Writing: Modernizing the Old School Essay, was published in 2016.