T is for

Time to go; to move on

To set out; to say goodbye

Look back in anger or regret or relief

Forward with fear or hope, maybe a plan

R is for

Running way; casting off the old

Racing, embracing the new

Shaking off the past, seizing the day

No hesitation, full of the future

A is for

Anticipating all that lies ahead

Anxiously checking passport and tickets

Awaiting the moment of take-off

Alive to the taxi-ing throb of the plane

V is for

Vast banks of billowing cotton-wool cloud

Vague sense of floating immobile

Above earth, below heaven, suspended in time

Illogically feeling very safe in the air

E is for

Expectation, intense to the point of fear

The ping-pong announcement for seatbelts again

The swoop and the slipstream thrusting you back

Surrender control and make peace with your God

L is for

Land with a rattle, a bump and a thump

Tearing up the tarmac with terrifying speed

Running out of runway, preparing to die

Until the mundane moment of arrival.