Child folds the sheet with salt-stained hands
Creases sharp as rope-tied strands
Pine tips catch the last gold light
Wires hum above the night
Paper wings kiss pine-edged glow
Telephone poles wear crowns of gold
White dart spins where currents flow
Night falls soft as wings unfold
Lamp keeper watches from the tower
Counts the flashes, marks the hour
Sees the plane turn silver-bright
Caught in dimming forest light
Paper wings kiss pine-edged glow
Telephone poles wear crowns of gold
White dart spins where currents flow
Night falls soft as wings unfold
Salt wind lifts the fragile craft
Past the spruce and fir tree shaft
Crosses humming power lines
Where the grid and wild align
No beacon flashes, no fog horn sound
Just a child's throw on hallowed ground
Keeper nods at flight so pure
Nature's light and human cure
Plane descends on needle bed
Dreams of flight put down to rest
Keeper marks where wings have led
Salt and pine and wire blessed
Paper wings kiss pine-edged glow
Telephone poles wear crowns of gold
White dart spins where currents flow
Night falls soft as wings unfold
Morning breaks on crumpled white
Tangled in the roots so tight
Keeper smiles at empty sky
Another flight has passed him by
Paper wings kiss pine-edged glow
Telephone poles wear crowns of gold
White dart spins where currents flow
Night falls soft as wings unfold
Paper wings kiss pine-edged glow
Night falls soft as
