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by Chris Sorrenti


 photo ahead - hangar.gif

the hangars now stand empty
mettle icons to an bygone time
their airships long since floated
into the wind of history
when what dreams could be
were captured at the toss of a wrench
processed beneath those girders strong
into new flying machines

always somber blue to the east
to the west fiery red 
and above only steel clouds
as the hangars now stand empty
waiting to be retooled
to build again what takes to the air
with throttle full up and away
and able to withstand
the skies of armor

ahead

 photo ahead 2.jpg

© 2006
Revised © 2018
Top illustration courtesy of Microsoft Clip Art
Bottom photo courtesy of the Net

2,110 hits as of November 2023



12/27/2006

Author's Note: The opening poem to Steel Clouds.

Posted on 12/27/2006
Copyright © 2024 Chris Sorrenti

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Tony Whitaker on 12/27/06 at 05:00 PM

This feels like I am looking into the past, in black and white, and waiting to be used again! I can hear and feel the imagery in this one. Nice Chris!

Posted by Maureen Glaude on 12/27/06 at 06:52 PM

Aha! Here's the actual poem where my "steel clouds" from Amber Afternoon appears. I knew it would title a folder.I got good reactions for that term I created for sure. Good use of the borrowed term. Happy New Year's.

Posted by Kathleen Wilson on 12/27/06 at 09:36 PM

Captures the excitement, the thrill of those airy wonders, and yet the focus on the abandonment and what flies ahead... it's rather chilling..."the skies of armor ahead". "Mettle icons" is quite a term... the overtone of "metal" rung with courage.

Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 12/28/06 at 02:42 AM

An excellent description of industrial retooling and capitalistic optimism.

Posted by Gregory O'Neill on 12/28/06 at 04:55 AM

The only constant is change, but will the mettle always measure up? Generous images, and I love the historical angle here. Thanks.

Posted by Alisa Js on 12/28/06 at 05:08 AM

What a powerfully written poem about memories... great metaphors used here.. aloha..;-)

Posted by Morgan D Hafele on 12/28/06 at 11:47 PM

it feels kind of like a dream floating into a new era of dog fighting... excellent read...

Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 12/29/06 at 04:30 PM

A masterful piece where the future past exists and the next generation is about to "take to the skies". Your phrase "when what dreams could be were captured at the toss of a wrench" is terrific - it speaks to me of the completion of building a nation, a philosophic structure that certainly changes over time - the red and the blue seem political to me as speaks to our now -"and able to withstand the skies of armor ahead" is a fine ending. This is refreshingly original with a sense of time passing, foreboding, hope, ebb and flow.

Posted by Christel Crews on 12/31/06 at 01:17 AM

what powerful imagery you've written here! such brilliance in your word choice too! :)

Posted by Joan Serratelli on 01/04/07 at 07:06 PM

Great imagery and excellent subject- powerful memories evoked. Excellent write and powerful read!

Posted by Rob Littler on 08/16/13 at 06:54 AM

I lament for the past when we could build such things, or aspired to. Such places have absorbed the actions of the past within their very structure, and stand as relics of another time, as a testament to what can be accomplished.

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